Report Says CBP Improving Cargo Targeting and Examination

(World Trade Interactive)

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General has issued the latest in a series of reports evaluating U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Targeting System. This report examines selected aspects of the ATS, determines their effectiveness in assisting CBP in detecting potential acts of terrorism, and identifies actions needed to improve the targeting of high-risk containers for inspection.

ATS is an enforcement tool that uses sophisticated automated techniques and algorithms to perform risk-based analysis of anomalies and strategic intelligence to indicate which shipments are high-risk and require additional scrutiny and mandatory security inspections. CBP officers at ports of entry also use their local knowledge and judgment to select unusual or irregular shipments for inspection. A shipment selected by ATS or local CBP officers is held for a non-intrusive inspection; i.e., an X-ray image that CBP officers use to identify anomalies such as areas that appear unusual or inconsistent with the container contents listed on the shipping documents. If CBP officers are unable to resolve the anomaly with an NII they may refer a shipment for physical examination, which may consist of a visual inspection of the container’s interior, a limited inspection of selected contents or the complete unloading of the cargo. Read more here.