World customs leaders to update trade on cargo security strategy

World customs leaders to update trade on cargo security strategy    U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner and Michel Danet, secretary general of the World Customs Organization, today will meet in Washington with 60 to 80 representatives from the import/export sector to brief them on the organization’s progress towards creating a common set of cargo security standards for customs administrations to follow.
   Last week, the World Customs Organization’s 22-member policy committee endorsed a global supply chain security regime closely patterned on the U.S. model for identifying suspicious cargo containers ahead of time and streamlining the customs exam process for trusted shippers.
   Meeting in Amman, Jordan, customs administrators approved a framework for securing and facilitating international trade. The WCO’s initiative is the brainchild of Bonner, who has pressed to internationalize programs such as the Container Security Initiative and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism so importers and exporters can deal with a consistent set of security standards worldwide. Bonner has spent the past year working behind the scenes of the WCO to bring other nations on board and convince them that the terrorist threat to the supply chain affects them all, not just the United States.
   Under CSI, the U.S. and partner nations station inspectors in each other’s ports to inspect cargo before departure. C-TPAT is a voluntary program for importers and transportation service providers to vouch for internal controls on the movement of goods in exchange for reduced cargo exams.
   The framework agreement is non-binding since the WCO doesn’t have the authority to draft international treaties, but is an effort to generate mutual cooperation in security matters.
   The United States, the European Union and other countries that are trying to synchronize their cargo security regimes will try to use their economic leverage to convince other countries to similarly use advance information collection, risk management techniques and inspections of both outbound and inbound containers.
   The 162-member WCO will vote to adopt the security framework at its meeting in June, but Bonner said he expects several nations to begin implementing the guidelines much sooner.
   Early adopters are expected to come from the small, high-level working group of national customs directors who share the U.S. goal of an interoperable supply chain monitoring system that simultaneously promotes security and the efficient movement of goods.
   The WCO is meeting with the private sector to outline the security plan and get feedback from those most affected by border and customs controls.