CBP: 70% of incoming containers are screened

CBP: 70% of incoming containers are screened    U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner said Thursday about 70 percent of all maritime containers shipped to the United States are being screened through CBP's Container Security Initiative (CSI).
   CSI has expanded to include 38 ports in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North America — including the 20 ports that ship the greatest volume of containers to the United States.
   'The CSI is the only multinational program in place today protecting global trading lanes,' CBP said in statement. In the program, CBP officers partner with foreign governments to identify and inspect high-risk cargo containers before they are loaded onto U.S.-bound vessels.
   'Our goal is to have 50 operational CSI ports by the end of 2006,' Bonner said. 'Once CSI is implemented in 50 ports, approximately 90 percent of all transatlantic and transpacific cargo imported into the United States will be subject to pre-screening,' he explained.
   CBP noted that the World Customs Organization (WCO) has unanimously adopted a 'framework of standards to secure global trade,' based on CSI principles.