Chertoff says known shippers get protected status
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Monday global security efforts against terrorism that rely on technology, advance information and sophisticated risk assessment can create “security envelopes” in which trusted people and cargo can be quickly authenticated, and move safely and efficiently without sacrificing security or privacy.
Chertoff promoted the concept of a world banded together by security envelopes in speeches to the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday and to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington last Thursday.
Shippers and travelers gain access to the protected fast lane by providing information about themselves and their shipments and taking steps to give government authorities confidence that they can move through the global transportation network without undue scrutiny reserved for less-known or suspicious users. Chertoff, in different language, essentially described the risk-management strategy that the Department of Homeland Security has followed for the past two years.
“And I think at the end of the day, that’s going to be a competitive advantage to shippers. They’re going to want to have a program that gives us the kind of information we need to keep cargo secure so it can move rapidly through the system,” Chertoff said at CSIS, indirectly referring to Customs and Border Protection programs for collecting advance electronic information based on purchasing and shipping documents.
In his first trip to Europe as secretary, Chertoff said the United States and other countries need to work to develop compatible technology for detecting terrorist weapons and tracking cargo.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to have radio frequency chips that use different kinds of modalities in the United States and Europe and in Asia, because that’s only going to make it harder for us to connect and work together” and cost more, Chertoff said.
