Analyst: Economic Crisis Hastens Need for 10 + 2

(HS Today – Phil Leggiere)

New report argues that economic conditions weaken case for 100 Percent cargo screening mandate

The pursuit of “perfect” 100% screening of all cargo, however well intentioned, may undermine a more realistic technologically and economically feasible focus on identifying and securing truly high-risk cargo, researcher James Jay Carafano of Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, argues in a new report titled Securing Global Supply Chains: 10 Plus 2 Container Security Ruling Needed. Instead, Carafano’s paper urges that the DHS “10 + 2” security initiative be implemented as soon as possible as a far more appropriate strategy for the economic and security situation confronting global shippers and consumers.

Technically called the Importer Security Filing (ISF) and Additional Carrier Requirements, 10 + 2 requires both importers and carriers to submit additional cargo information before the cargo is loaded on U.S.-bound vessels. This rule describes how importers will report 10 additional items of information on cargo shipped to the United States, while the carrier provides two more data sets.

As Carafano explains, “There are about 20 million sea-going shipping containers in the world that make about 200 million trips per year. In one of its first programs to enhance transportation security after 9/11, DHS established the Container Security Initiative (CSI). CSI evaluates data on each container bound for the United States and determines which might represent a potential risk that warrants further investigation. The U.S. works with other countries to inspect the high-risk containers before they are loaded on ships and sent to the United States. This efficient process requires physically scanning 2–3 percent of inbound containers. This has minimal impact of moving global trade, adds a valuable security deterrent, and enables DHS to focus its efforts on the most serious risks.”

The most important additions to the "10 + 2" reporting requirements, according to Carafano, include adding where the materials in the container are from and which conveyer is responsible for packing the container. These data points, he says, are invaluable for identifying potential sources of malicious activities that might attempt to place something harmful or dangerous in a container, for identifying entities that are not known and trusted and subsequently targeting them for inspection. Read more here.