Agencies focus on better cargo security to fight terrorism

Federal agencies charged with ensuring the security of cargo shipped throughout the nation say they are making progress in implementing new systems to aid in their work.

Officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs Service told an audience at a cargo security conference on Thursday that they are working to ensure that the millions of containers imported into the United States every year are not storing materials for potential terrorist attacks.

The officials acknowledged that they are striving to reach a balance between facilitating trade by expediting the transport of goods and scouring the packages for nefarious products.

"Security is good business. It's good for business," said George Rodriguez, TSA's director of cargo security. And "government regulation is not required if best practices take care of the problem."

Jayson Ahern, assistant commissioner for the Office of Field Operations at Customs, said his agency has made significant progress in securing bilateral agreements with foreign nations to implement an initiative that would allow Customs inspectors to "pre-screen" cargo before it reaches the United States.

The agency has signed agreements with Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands and Singapore, among others, and is beginning to implement the initiative in those countries. Customs' procurement unit is vetting potential new technologies to assist in its screening efforts and is suggesting solutions to foreign partners, but ultimately, Ahrens said, those counties can choose which technologies to deploy.

TSA is deploying Operation Safe Commerce, a project that will test approaches to new security practices at maritime ports. The $28 million program will begin testing in Los Angeles/Long Beach, Seattle and New York to "see what works," Rodriguez said.

Industries are responding positively, Rodriguez said. He cited the rail industry as an example of a sector adopting new standards to guard against security vulnerabilities.

He added that TSA is pushing for an information-sharing analysis center (ISAC) for the trucking industry and possibly other transportation industries to promote information sharing critical to counter terrorism. He noted that some trucking companies have scanned shipping data and packages for fake addresses, for example. Rodriguez's former employer, Yellow Freight, was able to nab illegal narcotics shipments by tracking such irregularities.

Ahern said Customs currently relies on a system for mining data to identify high-risk containers and screen them before and after they arrive at U.S. ports. Under provisions in a recently enacted law granting the president greater power over trade deals, shipping firms must adhere to stricter standards for reporting manifests or contents of their ships to Customs agents.

He noted that the law will bolster the agency's ability to determine trends or irregularities in cargo data that can identify high-risk containers worthy of more screening.