4. United States response

Learning objectives

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Identify the main United States supply chain security initiatives introduced after 9/11

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Explain how each initiative collects information or controls access to United States-bound cargo

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Describe how these measures have influenced supply chain practice beyond the United States

Following 9/11, the United States Government introduced a series of supply chain security initiatives, most of them sitting under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), created in 2002. DHS comprises more than 20 federal agencies, including Customs, Immigration, Coast Guard, Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Most of the initiatives covered here are operated by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They were created through separate legislation and funding cycles, so they are not always integrated, but many have become templates that other governments and international bodies have since adopted or adapted. CBP describes its approach this way:

“CBP employs an effective risk-based, layered approach to securing the global supply chain. Advanced information is screened using automated systems and analysed by trained personnel in order to provide actionable information to CBP officers. The screening and analysis of this information allows CBP to focus its resources on those shipments of concern, while facilitating the movement of legitimate cargo. In addition to receiving advanced information, CBP partners with industry members to enhance their own security practices throughout the international supply chain. Foreign government partnerships also provide valuable insight into potentially harmful shipments, and, in some locations, have allowed CBP to deploy scanning systems to scan containers for radiation. Finally, CBP has positioned technology at all ports of entry that serve as force multipliers for officers in the field. Taken in combination, these layers provide meaningful supply chain security” (CBP 2010a)

The United States has continued to strengthen its supply chain measures over the last 15 years. The initiatives covered in this chapter are important to study because, in many cases, they have set the template for international, regional, and other national responses to supply chain security.

Year

Initiative

Focus

2003

24 Hour Advance Vessel Manifest Rule (AMR)

Carriers submit cargo data 24 hours before loading

2006 (SAFE Port Act)

10+2 Importer Security Filing (ISF)

Importers add 10 data elements; carriers add 2

2010 pilot, 2018 mandatory

Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS)

Advance air cargo data for risk targeting

2002

Container Security Initiative (CSI)

Bilateral inspection at foreign loading ports

2001

CTPAT (Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism)

Voluntary trader-government security partnership

2006 (rebadged 2010)

Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) / International Container Security (ICS)

Radiation and non-intrusive scanning at foreign ports

2001 (ATSA); 2007 (9/11 Act)

TSA Air Cargo Security Regulations

100% screening of cargo on passenger flights