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Business Helps U.S. Prevent “Sum of All Fears,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Says By Joe Fiorill WASHINGTON — Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner today asked business leaders involved in seaborne trade for more input into a post-9/11 U.S. cargo security plan (see GSN, Dec. 17, 2004). Opening a security symposium sponsored by his agency, Bonner called on gathered industry representatives to continue discussing ways to protect sea commerce against threats such as “the nuke in the box.” The prospect of a nuclear device hidden in a shipping container, he said, is “the sum of all fears” (see GSN, Jan. 12). Many business leaders in attendance at today’s symposium were also present at a related meeting last month, where they contributed to the current draft of the Homeland Security Department’s cargo plan. Bonner said the greatest sea-related threat to global security is the potential for al-Qaeda to transport weapons or operatives in shipping containers. With roughly 9 million containers entering U.S. ports each year, he said, the United States must continue to expand its efforts to head off potentially dangerous cargo before it reaches U.S. shores. “The cargo container is the potential Trojan horse of the 21st century,” Bonner said. “A weapon could be concealed inside a container, or a container could literally be made into a weapon.” In addition to the nuclear threat, Bonner expressed concern about the potential that a radiological weapon inside a container could “stop global trade in its tracks, unless we have a maritime security strategy that can detect and deter against such an attack.” He said the United States and other countries have already begun to implement such a strategy through initiatives such as a requirement for submission of advance information on U.S.-bound cargo before it is loaded at foreign ports and an automated system that evaluates security risks for U.S.-bound containers. Other elements of the strategy cited by Bonner include the Container Security Initiative, in which U.S. inspectors screen U.S.-bound shipments at foreign ports, and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, in which companies implement security standards defined by the Customs and Border Protection in exchange for faster processing at U.S. ports. Among needed future initiatives in cargo security, Bonner mentioned the use of “smart boxes,” shipping containers that are better sealed than those now in use and which would show obvious evidence of any tampering. He also recommended that U.S.-style cargo security measures be applied to all cargo traveling anywhere in the world, so that shippers have a single set of standards worldwide.
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