GATE PROPOSES 3-STEP CONTAINER PRIVATE-SECTOR INSPECTION PROCESS

GATE PROPOSES 3-STEP CONTAINER PRIVATE-SECTOR INSPECTION PROCESS    The Global Alliance for Trade Efficiency recommended to U.S. lawmakers late Monday a three-step container inspection process driven by established private-sector pre-inspection firms.
   “The most cost-effective and quickest way for the U.S. government to implement this border security strategy is to use the private sector to provide a global network,” said Charles Upchurch, president and chief executive officer for SGS Global Trade Solutions on behalf of GATE before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information.
   “The use of accredited private sector security inspection companies permits an immediate global container inspection capacity for the U.S. government, incurs no cost to the U.S. government as the exporter is invoiced for the intervention and requires no bilateral agreements as private sector inspection companies operate through existing legal entities in each country of supply,” Upchurch said.
   GATE asked the Senate subcommittee to consider its private-sector container control plan, which includes:
   * Mandatory security inspections in high-risk countries at the time goods are loaded into the container.
   * Electronically sealed containers fitted with light and air pressure sensors and a Global Positioning System.
   * Required in-transit tracking.
   “Private sector security inspection companies operate through existing legal entities in all countries and can inspect cargo at the time of container loading within the normal patter of trade,” GATE said. “Instead of the U.S. seeking bilateral agreements to allow U.S. Customs inspectors in, the U.S. government could instead accredit security service providers to perform container screening and inspection.”
   Upchurch told the Senate subcommittee that security inspections could be carried out within the exporter’s normal logistics process. “All that is required a minimum 48 hour advance notice by the exporter to the security inspection company of the time and place that container stuffing will take place,” he said.