FMCSA ADMINISTRATOR: ITDS COULD BE DEPLOYED BY 2005

FMCSA ADMINISTRATOR: ITDS COULD BE DEPLOYED BY 2005    A government official said development of the International Trade Data System (ITDS) could resume by next year, and the system could possibly be deployed for all points of entry in the land, air and sea modes as soon as 2005.
   Joseph Clapp, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) told trade executives at a conference that the present war-time environment in America called for automated systems to allow trade to continue in an expedited fashion, but in a regulated way that does not compromise national security.
   “The concept of an open border does not mean that it has to be a porous border,” Clapp told attendees at the annual conference at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in Hollywood, Fla., Monday.
   The ITDS, a government initiative based on information technology meant for collection, use and dissemination of international trade data, would add to security while apprising government agencies and industry of incoming goods and the carriers that bring them.
   ITDS, coupled with another government initiative, the Automated Commercial Environment, a government computer system intended to monitor trade, would create an environment that would monitor security and trade, Clapp said. “It allows us to focus on the shipper, cargo and people that we don’t want.”
   Clapp, who is heading an agency that President Bush established at the end of last year, applauded the trade community for doing its part in supply chain security, while adding that there are more initiatives under government agency consideration to continue tightening security for all modes. Some initiatives under consideration include background security checks for all truck operators seeking to renew their licenses for hazardous materials transport, or the issuance of transportation workers’ Identification cards.