DHS to seek private sector input for maritime security plan

DHS to seek private sector input for maritime security plan    Seven specific plans spelling out aspects of the U.S. government’s maritime security strategy will be rolled out in the last week of October, said Jim Patton, acting director for cargo and transportation security policy at the Department of Homeland Security.
   President Bush in late September released the overarching national maritime security strategy that basically laid out the goal of protecting U.S. shores and commerce from a terrorist attack on the maritime sector. The new plans will spell out aspects of the strategy.
   Three of the plans will impact cargo interests, including the maritime transportation system security plan, the maritime incident response plan and the maritime commerce security plan.
   Patton told industry representatives on the DHS Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) that the department would seek the group’s input on developing action items to implement the strategy. The department wants COAC and the Coast Guard’s COAC equivalent, the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee, to work together on continuity and contingency planning so the department receives a unified set of recommendations from industry, Patton said.
   Christopher Koch, president of World Shipping Council representing vessel carriers in the U.S. market, urged DHS to carefully define what it wants from COAC because the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee, on which he also sits, is have some difficulty dealing with broad tasks with vague requirements.