U.S. supply chain security strategy nears completion

U.S. supply chain security strategy nears completion    The U.S. government hopes to finalize a strategy for securing international supply chains sometime this spring, Christa Brzozowski, director of cargo and transportation security policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said last month.
   The draft plan to create a holistic, government-wide plan for enhancing the security of international freight transportation across all modes is undergoing final review at the White House, she said during the April 12 meeting of DHS's Commercial Operations Advisory Committee. The goal is to have a single approach for preventing, mitigating and responding to supply chain disruptions from manmade causes such as terrorism or natural disasters.
   The 14-month effort began to meet a 2006 congressional mandate for DHS to develop a global supply chain security strategy. The Obama administration decided the strategy would be stronger if it involved the entire government, although the extra consultation to achieve a common perspective meant the deadline for completing a strategy would be missed.
   The strategy is expected to identify gaps in the roles and responsibilities of federal and state agencies, and private sector stakeholders, and recommend legislative, regulatory and organizational changes to address them.
   The completed document will guide the government's interaction with the private sector that controls the physical infrastructure through which trade flows and with foreign governments that have authority over supply chains beyond U.S. borders. It will also help set development of long-range budgets for security programs, Brzozowski said.
   Once the national strategy, which included input from the industry-based COAC, is completed there will be a six-month period during which the executive branch will gather feedback and specific recommendations for translating the strategy into actions, she said.
   The result will be a National Action Plan from the White House providing guidance to all agencies on how to align their budgets and programs with the government's strategy.
   The strategy will include protocols for how to resume trade in ports and elsewhere following an attack, accident or disaster, Brzozowski said. A maritime security committee within the National Security Council is checking whether existing protocols are up to date and suited for the maritime sector. Good policies and procedures will then be analyzed to determine if they can be replicated in the aviation sector and other modes.
   The U.S. government intends to expand the reach of its supply chain security strategy into the international realm.
   Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has engaged the World Customs Organization, the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization to coordinate the strategy with their security regimes and incorporate best practices from the U.S. plan with their own, Ellen McClain, assistant general counsel for enforcement at DHS, told the COAC members.
   'Our focus with those partners is on developing harmonized international standards and guidelines for a wide array of security and customs functions. Ideally, DHS and the United States would move forward in concert with the international community' in areas such as advance cargo information requirements, tracking the diversion of precursor materials used to make Improvised Explosive Devices, trade recovery and improving implementation of the IMO's International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, she said. ' Eric Kulisch