U.S. Coast Guard Secures the Global Supply Chain

By Craig Collins - August 6, 2012

A member of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency looks toward the CMA CGM Virginia, a container shipping vessel, May 16, 2009, off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., before boarding the ship to search for possible stowaways. CBP worked with Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville’s boarding team to conduct a search after the ship’s captain reported finding unfamiliar backpacks containing food and water on the ship’s bow. CBP is the Department of Homeland Security’s lead agency for cargo security and has authority over cargo and crew once a vessel arrives in port. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Cindy Beckert

So far, the IPS Program has assessed more than 900 ports and facilities in more than 150 countries. The working relationships established by IPSLOs have been remarkably effective in ensuring adequate safety measures among U.S. trading partners; after assessing 211 facilities in 76 countries in 2011, the Coast Guard added only two nations to its PSA.

Partnering with Customs and Border Protection

The Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (SAFE Port Act) added a number of provisions to the nation’s existing port security programs, some of which were focused on containerized cargo. The focus is understandable; according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS’s lead agency for cargo security, about 90 percent of the world’s cargo is transported in containers, and almost half the value of incoming U.S. trade is comprised of the containers – nearly 7 million a year – that are offloaded at U.S. seaports.

Representatives from various federal, state and local, and Canadian agencies, tribes, and stakeholders listen as Coast Guard Capt. Joseph McGuiness, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., provides a briefing before beginning a full-scale maritime security exercise on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie Sept. 15, 2011. The exercise, planned around a scenario of a bomb placed on the Soo Locks, was designed to strengthen partnerships among all those involved and followed an oil spill exercise the previous day. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen

Because of the logistical impossibility of physically scanning, with imaging and radiation-detection equipment, every single U.S.-bound cargo container, Customs and Security Program (CSP) has adopted a layered, risk-based approach in its Container Security Initiative (CSI) that continues to mature as the agency works to comply with the SAFE Port Act’s mandate to eventually scan 100 percent of inbound containers.

CSI officers, much like Coast Guard IPSLOs, work with their counterparts in hosting foreign governments to conduct reviews of shipping manifests and target high-risk cargo. Lt. Cmdr. Dan Somma, the Coast Guard’s chief of cargo and facility security, described this process as a “risk-based review using a targeting system” – a review of computer records or paperwork, intelligence, and complex data algorithms, all of which are cycled back to CBP’s National Targeting Center for advance analysis. “CBP then has 24 hours before it even gets on the vessel to screen for high-risk shipments,” said Somma. “And then, based on that, they can say, ‘We have such concerns with this container that it shouldn’t even go on the ship.’ If CBP has an issue with a container, they request a hold to the host government, and then they do a joint inspection addressing any concerns before it’s closed up and sent.”

Because it’s a targeted program, CSI is in operation at 58 ports, covering about 80 percent of the maritime imports to the United States. At each of those ports, Coast Guard and CBP personnel combine resources and exchange information, said Somma. The service also has a watchstander at the National Targeting Center. “We can review everything CBP is looking at and targeting, no matter where it is coming from,” said Somma. “If there’s something of interest that CBP needs help with from the Coast Guard, they can just reach over, or if we see a shipment we’re interested in, we can ask CBP for more information on it.”

The advance coordination is essential, given the different areas of authority and chains of command. The Coast Guard’s COTP has jurisdiction over a vessel’s entry into a U.S. port, while CBP has authority over the cargo and crew once they arrive – though the CBP has never, Somma said, denied a Coast Guard request to hold a shipment for further inspection.

If a container looks as if it could be a weapon of mass destruction, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) takes the lead. “In my career, I’ve seen it a few times where the FBI comes in and runs the show. And it works well,” Somma said. “The Coast Guard puts the ship on hold. CBP puts the container on hold. And then we stand by and support while the FBI does its thing. Once everyone clears it, the ship is allowed to come in.”

As of spring 2012, CBP is a long way from being able to physically scan every one of the nation’s 7 million inbound cargo containers annually at their points of departure; explorations of the possibility have revealed numerous obstacles, such as international opposition and diplomatic challenges, the need to reconfigure foreign ports, and the potential for the imposition of reciprocal requirements.