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Port of No Return

America’s ports are where your supply chain becomes a matter of national security.

By Pearl Gabel

America’s ports (photo credit: Bill McAllen)

To find the weakest links in the global supply chain, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used tracking technology to monitor the cargo of major importers—companies like Motorola and Sara Lee—as their products were shipped from overseas factories to the U.S. Over 20,000 cargo containers were secured using a combination of electronic seals and sensors to detect tampering and movement. The $75 million pilot program was called Operation Safe Commerce (OSC), and it went into effect just months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The goal was to find ways to protect commercial imports from a terrorist attack while minimizing the impact on commerce.

The findings of OSC were never officially released. Last March, however, the Associated Press came upon unreleased OSC documents that seemed to conclude that in the space outside of the Coast Guard, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and individual ports, there exists a crucial gap in port security. The study found serious lapses by private companies at foreign and American ports, aboard ships, in warehouses, and on trucks and trains. One of the confidential documents read, “There is a perception that U.S. facilities benefit from superior security protection measures. This mind set may contribute to a misplaced sense of confidence in American business practices.”

Corporations and manufacturers play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of ports. Any lapses in a supply chain can potentially result in individuals smuggling biological weapons, explosives, or even themselves through a company’s imports.

CONTAINING CONTAINERS

Before September 11, 2001, the cargo moving through America’s seaports was not something that the Coast Guard dealt with. In fact, little federal regulation was in place to ensure the safety of the content, aside from hazardous materials. The multi-layered strategies of the DHS did not exist.

Today, the collaboration of manufacturers, carrier companies, local ports, transportation companies, local authorities, and government has never been so strong. However, the volume of cargo coming through the country’s 326 official ports of entry—over 95% of U.S. imports—makes it important for companies to integrate security into their business.

America’s ports (photo credit: Port San Antonio)

Roughly 25,000 shipping containers, most of them larger than the average mobile home, enter U.S. ports each day. On average, only a fraction of containers are physically inspected upon arrival. The CBP uses x-ray and gamma ray machines, radiation detection devices, and canine teams capable of detecting anything from explosives and chemical weapons to human beings.

At the beginning of the shipping process, the manufacturer or exporter loads and seals a container, and transports the cargo to the port. The port operator then takes control of it, either by storing or loading it directly onto a ship. The shipping carrier then transports it, along with up to 10,000 other containers, to the U.S. The receiving port unloads and stores the containers. Generally, a trucking company hired by the manufacturer carries the containers to the company’s warehouse. In total, the import process has the potential to change hands over five times.

As the security manager of the Port of Portland, OR, Daniel Pippenger oversees three marine terminals, which last year saw 12 million tons of goods, most of which came from Asia.

“Looking inside packed containers will be helpful to understand the magnitude of the issue of container security,” says Pippenger, who is a former Coast Guard Deputy Commander. “When you go visit a port, see if you can get somebody to open a container and look inside of it. If it’s packaged goods, imagine opening the doors. You don’t walk in right away because if they have fumigated it, it will kill you. It’s 40 feet long. It’s dark. There are boxes all over the place, usually wrapped in brown paper. There might be some wood shoring to ensure the cargo doesn’t shift around on the ocean. Depending on the goods, it might be filled all the way to the top, or it might be filled waste-high with different sized things all around. So you look in there, and everything is brown paper with shipping labels on it.”

America’s ports A radiation gate check at the Port of Baltimore, MD (photo credit: JB Hanson)

Pippenger goes on to describe the joint roles of port security organizations. The CBP uses intelligence and risk-based strategies to scan the cargo before it is loaded onto vessels destined for the U.S., and inspects those deemed “high-risk” upon arrival. The Coast Guard patrols the waterways and routinely inspects and assesses the security of U.S. ports in accordance with the Maritime Transportation Security Act, and regularly reviews and inspects port security. Port officials and operators are responsible for being the crucial transfer point for foreign cargo. “It’s not that we sit around and huddle over each container, but everybody knows their piece,” Pippinger says. “It’s not just about fences and ID checks, it’s about integrating security into your business practices and decision-making.”

A COMPANY’S ROLE

Created by the CBP in 2002, the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) is a public-private partnership with nearly 5,800 businesses involved, including most of the largest U.S. importers, as well as small and medium-sized companies. The initiative, which is voluntary, asks businesses to ensure the integrity of their security practices and of the practices of everybody in their supply chain. Companies work with the C-TPAT to improve baseline security standards for the supply chain and container security, and conducts regular reviews of the security practices of the company shipping the goods, as well as of the companies that provide them with services.

“You can’t build walls along the waterside and expect to have a free flow of commerce,” says Homer Williams, the director of security for the Port of Baltimore, MD, one of the largest ports in the U.S. “You can’t have anything that is going to disrupt the flow.”

A C-TPAT review benefits companies that meet its security standards—passing the highest level means the fewest number of inspections of containers at customs. The top C-TPAT security tier has the fewer companies than any other tier, but includes Target, General Motors, and Boeing. In order to qualify for even the lowest C-TPAT certification, a company must prove that it has performed a risk analysis of its supply chain and has a plan to secure any gaps. The threat, risk, and vulnerability assessment is required to become linked into the government-industry security partnership.

“You can never make a facility or infrastructure 100% safe. There’s always an Achilles’ heel somewhere,” says Williams. “You may have all your risks covered in terms of what you know your threats are today, but those threats change.”

 

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