Container Safety in the Shipping Industry

Since the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the U.S. government has taken strict measures to ensure that terrorists are not able to smuggle or deliver a weapon of mass destruction in a shipping container entering a U.S. port.

Background

• U.S. Custom and Border Protection is responsible for the Container Security Initiative, which is a security effort to ensure that terrorists cannot deliver a dangerous weapon inside a shipping container. There are three major elements to the CSI initiative: using automated targeting tools to locate higher-risk containers; screening and evaluating containers at the port of departure; and using X-ray and gamma-ray machines, along with devices to detect radiation, to quickly screen containers.

International Cooperation

• Through the CSI, U.S. customs officials work with customs officers in other countries to screen cargo containers bound for U.S. ports. Governments share information with each other to better evaluate suspicious containers. There are 58 global ports participating in the CSI program.

Challenges

• The CSI program has some challenges.Tthe Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, a partnership between the U.S. government and private companies that import goods, may increase the risk of a weapon of mass destruction reaching the U.S., because U.S. customs officials rely heavily on importing companies to ensure the security of their own supply chain and shipping containers.