U.S. Security Panel Urges Repeal of Cargo Scanning Rule

(The Journal of Commerce Online)

Advisory committee recommends shift in supply chain security focus

The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection on Thursday called for repeal of laws requiring 100 percent scanning of ocean cargo and 100 percent screening of air cargo.

The bipartisan group made up of representatives of the trade and transportation community said the Department of Homeland Security should shift its supply chain security focus to place more emphasis on air and land transportation security and ensure that minimum security criteria for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and similar programs adapt to changing threats in the supply chain.

The recommendations were included in comments to the DHS policy branch, which is drafting a new national strategy for global supply chain security. Read more here.

Get Serious About Freight Theft

(Lloyd’s List — Comment)

That somewhere around $5bn worth of cargo is stolen every year from the global supply chain is surprising in itself. It is perhaps even more surprising that this is not headline news; but beyond the dramatic stories of pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa, which are potent fuel to fire the imagination with, much freight theft is low-level and accumulative.

For the general public, freight theft is essentially a victim-less crime and consequently does not register – although the viciousness of some of the attacks on lorry drivers taking their mandatory breaks on roadside rest stops are the equal of many a Somali pirate. However, while piracy at sea is principally an issue for shipowners, ship operators, and naval security services, the tightening of supply chain security places far more responsibility onto cargo owners, who appear to approach the serious problems posed by freight crime with something of a cavalier attitude.

Certainly, given the multiple concerns of, say, a high street retailer or global automotive manufacturer struggling to get his company through the recession, it is understandable that supply chain security might find itself slipping down the pecking order. That does not, however, mean that it is acceptable. Read more here.

BSI Makes the ‘GRADE’ with U.S. Customs and Border Protection

(PR Newswire)

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program has selected BSI to provide a single-source, web-based intelligence repository that will be readily accessible by the C-TPAT’s Supply Chain Security Specialists (SCSS). This purpose-built solution, termed Global Risk Analysis & Data Evaluation (GRADE), will assist the SCSS through a systematic approach of quantifying country risk factors necessary to help make informed decisions on where to conduct international C-TPAT validations.

BSI maintains one of the largest, continuously-updated, non-governmental proprietary databases that quantifies the risk of more than 870 terrorist groups and their threat to Western destined commerce. GRADE will provide the Supply Chain Security Specialists up-to-date country risk analysis data, risk of terrorism threats to Western interests, cargo disruption analysis in 200+ countries, country demographics, as well as extensive travel security data. Intelligence within GRADE will assist C-TPAT SCSS determine at risk locations and at risk supply chains in order to provide a risk-based approach to C-TPAT validation site selection. Read more here.

Information on Mutual Recognition of Supply Chain Security Programs

(World Trade Interactive)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has recently posted to its Web site information on mutual recognition of supply chain security programs with foreign countries. Highlights of this information include the following.

Mutual Recognition Explained: “The essential concept” of mutual recognition is that the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and the counterpart foreign program “are compatible in both theory and practice so that one program may recognize the validation findings of the other program.” Through mutual recognition, “international industry partnership programs are linked so that together they create a unified and sustainable security posture that can assist in securing and facilitating global cargo trade. It means end to end supply chain security based on program membership.”

Customs Compliance Not Included: Mutual recognition is only based on security and does not address customs compliance issues. As a result, mutual recognition does not exempt any partner, whether domestic or foreign, from complying with other CBP-mandated requirements (e.g., the importer security filing rule), nor does it replace any of CBP’s cargo enforcement strategies.

Pre-requisites: Before CBP engages a foreign customs administration toward mutual recognition, the foreign partner must have a full-fledged operational program in place (not a program in development or a pilot program) and that program must have a strong validation process and a strong security component built in. CBP also takes into account the risk associated with the supply lines originating in that country.

Read the complete article here.

ATA Releases Trucking Cargo Security Guidebook

(American Trucking Associations)

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) released the ATA Certified Cargo Security Professional Resource Guidebook, which provides a detailed synopsis of motor carrier security from pick up to delivery.

Developed by the Security Council of American Trucking Associations, the 186-page Guidebook helps readers evaluate and manage risk and trucking security, whether physical security en route and at a facility, personnel, or information and computer security. The Certified Cargo Security Professional (CCSP) guidebook covers investigations in the logistics environment, emergency disaster management, federal security regulations for hazardous materials transportation, cross-border security, intermodal security, and food security.

In addition, the Guidebook is the study resource for the CCSP Certification examination administered through ATA and recognized by the North American Transportation Management Institute. The CCSP Certification is a specialty credential that denotes a level of knowledge and skill in the design, implementation and administration of security protection in the cargo/transportation industry.

“Eighty percent of all communities in the U.S. rely solely on trucks for the products and goods they receive, including food, books, clothing, electronics, automobiles, and medical supplies,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “Securing the transportation infrastructure and supply chain against potential acts of cargo theft, natural disaster, organized crime, and even terrorism is a critical piece of the homeland security effort. ATA established the CCSP Certification and accompanying CCSP Resource Guidebook to address this vital need by expanding and unifying our industry's approach to security.”

The Guidebook, part of the ATA Business Solutions line of products, events, services, can be purchased at here or by calling (866) 821-3468.

C-TPAT-Worthy? Prove It!

(DC Velocity – Mark B. Solomon)

The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has a message for non–asset-based third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) that want to join the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT): Prove you belong.

Effective January 1, 3PLs will not be considered for C-TPAT participation if they do not own aircraft, warehouses, vehicles, or other transportation assets. Entities that only provide services in domestic commerce will also be excluded. The reason, CBP says, is that those companies are “unable to enhance supply chain security throughout the international supply chain” and thus do not qualify for C-TPAT enrollment. (Under C-TPAT, companies submit plans to CBP that show they have tight security measures in place throughout their supply chains. Those that pass an audit of their security standards and procedures receive expedited clearance for cargo entering U.S. commerce.)

As part of the implementation process, CBP has launched an online “C-TPAT enrollment sector” that gives 3PLs an opportunity to demonstrate that they meet the criteria for acceptance into the program. Each applicant must pass an initial review. After it clears that hurdle, it must then undergo a second and more rigorous screening to determine if it passes muster. Read more here.

Invitation to Participate in RFID Study

(University of New Brunswick)

This research project on the different issues covering RFID implementation is under the sponsorship of the Faculty of Business Administration, University of New Brunswick Fredericton, Canada.

The objectives of the study are to: (1) identify the motivation and expected outcomes for conducting RFID implementation; (2) understand the information technology support needed for RFID; (3) understand ways of exchanging information and relating with supply chain partners; (4) identify the critical success factors of RFID technology implementation; and (5) understand factors that affect the adoption of RFID.

This topical research subject has been in the minds of executives as a number of years have passed since major firms like Wal-Mart and organizations like the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have mandated RFID use by its major suppliers. Over and above the mounting pressures created by these compliance mandates, firms are looking forward to attaining high levels of information accuracy and real-time visibility across the supply chain using RFID.

Also, the positive results of well-known RFID pilot projects conducted by leading-edge firms like Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble (now owner of Gillette), and others augur well for a widespread adoption of RFID across industries, possibly throughout the world. This technology also promises to enable companies to redefine the fundamental assumptions upon which today’s supply chain management policies, practices, and software systems are based.

To participate in the survey, go here. It should take you 10-15 minutes to respond to this survey. While the study is aimed primarily at firms already using RFID systems in certain areas only within the firm, with its supply chain partners, or both, we also gather information from firms that do not as yet do so. Regardless of the status of your firm in terms of RFID adoption, your responses are valuable and will be kept absolutely confidential.

Participants in this study will receive a copy of the final study report that will be generated from this project. Make sure you indicate the email address where you wish the report to be sent.
If you have any concerns about this study, contact Dr. Rebecca Angeles, Faculty of Business Administration, University of New Brunswick Fredericton at rangeles@unb.ca or tel. (506) 453-4962.

Transport Canada Air Cargo Security Program

Transport Canada has announced the launch and implementation of its Secure Supply Chain Management System (SSCMS) as of June 2, 2008, which is a Known Shipper data base for air cargo purposes. Air carriers and freight forwarders participating in Transport Canada’s Air Cargo Security Program (ACSP) will be able to use SSCMS to determine a shipper’s status (ie. whether the shipper is a “known” shipper) and whether and how the shipper’s cargo may be transported by air.

Processing to achieve Registered or Conditionally Registered status for shippers normally takes up to thirty (30) days from the date the shipper’s data is received from a participating air carrier or freight forwarder. In the interim, cargo from shippers who are Not Registered will be subject to air transportation limitations and additional security processes. For example, the cargo may have to be transported on all cargo aircraft or subjected to a search before being transported on a passenger aircraft.

Shippers should check with their air carriers and freight forwarders to determine whether the air carrier or freight forwarder is participating in the ACSP and whether the carrier or freight forwarder has included the shipper in the SSCMS data base.

Air carriers and freight forwarders not participating in the ACSP will not have access to SSCMS or be able to submit companies for inclusion as Registered Shippers.

SSCMS will continue to be populated with shipper and other data after June 2nd in order to allow ACSP participants to submit additional information and accommodate new clients.

Participants will also be permitted to use their existing known shipper lists, until the department makes changes to the Air Carrier Security Measures, to allow them sufficient time to submit their current known shippers for registration.

For more information, you may consult the Air Cargo Security Bulletins on the Transport Canada website here and here.

Consumer Safety Agency to Post Inspectors at Biggest Ports

(GovExec.com)

The federal agency that polices children’s toys and other consumer goods will permanently station employees at the nation’s largest ports for the first time in response to congressional and public outcry over recalls. Acting Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairwoman Nancy Nord said she is coordinating an effort to focus CPSC employees on suspect shipments and high-risk products. ‘We will be starting at the busiest ports, the ports where the most products come in. That’s Long Beach, that’s Seattle, there are a number of other ones,’ Nord said. Staffing for the permanent port presence is undetermined since CPSC received a $17 million budget bump when Congress approved $80 million for the agency last month.

CPSC staff at ports will not be authorized to turn away dangerous cargo, but it can advise U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials who have the power to deny unsafe products entry into the country. CPSC employees are posted near ports and sometimes conduct inspections, but they also are assigned other duties. The permanent port staff will have access to information on recalls and high-risk products through a tracking system CPSC is developing, Nord said.

The House passed a consumer product safety bill before recess. Nord praised the bipartisan bill that requires third-party certification of children’s toys, reduces the allowable lead level in toys and implements a tracking system to aid store-owners during recalls, but she is not as amenable to a more stringent Senate bill crafted by Democrats. Read the full story.

Transportation Security Programs Need to Refocus on Risk Management, CTA Tells Senate Committee

(Canadian Trucking Alliance)

In an appearance yesterday at a meeting of the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, representatives of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) cautioned that land transportation security programs, particularly at the Canada-US border, continue to result in duplication, overlap and ever-increasing costs.

“Like the exporters whose goods we carry, the trucking industry is unsettled by the fact that the cost of moving goods continues to be driven up by security measures that are rolled out and evaluated in isolation from one another. The big picture – an appropriate balance between security and trade efficiency – seems to have been lost,” CTA Senior Vice President Graham Cooper told the committee.

He noted that the trucking industry fully understands how the Canada-US trade picture has changed since September 2001, and has in fact played a key role in trying to maintain the balance between efficient trade and enhanced security: “Hundreds of Canadian carriers – more than any other part of the supply chain, by a wide margin – have signed up for Canada’s Partners in Protection program, as well as the US Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. The number of Canadian truck drivers who have been security screened under the Free and Secure Trade program now exceeds 70,000. Thousands of carriers are now supplying advance cargo, crew and conveyance data to US Customs and Border Protection on export loads.”

The trucking alliance’s view is that six years after 9/11, it is becoming apparent that Canada and the US have created an array of programs that don’t always dovetail with one another, and the situation seems to be getting worse. As Cooper told the committee, “the reality is that the trucking industry today faces a range of mode-specific requirements, facility-specific requirements, and even commodity-specific requirements coming at us from departments and agencies on both sides of the border. The situation is not sustainable. We can’t go on forever, layering one new program on top of another, further driving up the cost of transportation and harming Canadian competitiveness.”

CTA acknowledged that there is of course no silver bullet to address these problems, but government agencies on both sides of the border must remember that the appropriate balance between efficient trade flow and enhanced security can be achieved only if risks are properly assessed. Cooper told the committee that, “the focus on risk is absolutely fundamental. Our view is that a proper assessment of risk creates a win-win scenario for the trucking industry and government: for us, in ensuring that inspections and programs are targeted to where they are really needed; and for government, in ensuring that scarce resources are applied where they will do most good.”