Customs bureau may seek private sector help

A senior official told lawmakers Thursday the government does not have enough inspectors to validate security plans of cargo shipping companies and is considering hiring private companies to help.

Customs and Border Protection only has 80 inspectors to validate the security plans for about 10,000 companies that have applied to be part of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, Jayson Ahern, the agency's assistant commissioner of field operations, told the House Homeland Security Economic Security Subcommittee at a hearing.

He said the agency plans to hire 40 more inspectors within the next 45 days, but is "not where we need to be."

For the first time, the agency is considering hiring private companies to validate the security plans of some companies that primarily work out of countries with a low risk of terrorism activity, Ahern said.

Under the C-TPAT program, which was established after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, companies voluntarily give the U.S. government detailed information about the security of their supply chain in order to have convenient access to U.S. ports.

Concerns have risen in Congress in recent weeks that the country has major gaps when it comes to maritime, cargo and port security, especially after a Dubai-owned company was given approval to operate terminals at major U.S. ports.

Ahern said C-TPAT is one of five main programs aimed at increasing security, adding that the nation's 322 ports are "far safer today than before 9/11."

But when pressed, Ahern said only 1,545 companies out of 10,000 have had their security plans validated. He added the government hopes to validate the plans for up to 65 percent of all C-TPAT applicants by Jan. 1. Validation means Customs agents have physically observed and inspected the security plans in action.

"We're relying on companies that we haven't even gone out to check," said Homeland Security Economic Security Subcommittee ranking member Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif. "You've got 80 people [and] they can't possibly check these 10,000 companies."

Ahern testified during a hearing to consider the "Security and Accountability For Every Port Act," which was introduced after news broke about the Dubai Ports World deal. The bill is similar to one offered last November by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Both bills would overhaul maritime security and strengthen cargo inspections at foreign and U.S. ports. The new bill would authorize about $800 million annually for maritime security efforts, including a special $400 million port security grant program.

Industry representatives told the subcommittee they generally support the House bill, but wish it would do more.

Noel Cunningham of The Marsec Group said the bill "could be made significantly more effective" if it established requirements for increasing inspections of containers before they are loaded on ships at foreign ports, identifying all persons working at U.S. ports, and integrating port security systems at local, regional and national levels.

"At present, the amount of foreign inspections is simply not significant enough to provide a deterrent effect," he said. "Access control and overseas screening are foundational to supply chain security, and they represent the most efficient means to push back the borders."

Momentum has been growing in Congress to require Homeland Security to inspect much more cargo at foreign ports. The department acknowledges that it only physically inspects 5 percent of all cargo bound for the United States.