22 September 2005
Brazilian Port of Santos Joins Container Security Initiative
Santos is largest port in South America and major export center
The Brazilian port of Santos became the 39th operational Container Security Initiative (CSI) port on September 22, targeting and prescreening maritime cargo containers headed for U.S. ports, according to a press release issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security.
The CSI program is intended to prevent the smuggling of terrorists or terrorist weapons into the United States in oceangoing cargo containers by providing for the deployment of U.S. customs officials to other countries' ports. U.S. customs agents working in those ports target high-risk U.S.-bound containers prior to shipment for inspection by their local counterparts. Under the program, a participating country can send its customs officers to major U.S. ports to target cargo destined for that nation's ports.
The port of Santos is the largest port in South America and a major export center -- and with 39 CSI ports now operational, approximately 75 percent of cargo containers headed to the United States originate in or are transshipped from CSI ports.
Following is the text of the CBP press release, with further details:
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Customs and Border Protection
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22, 2005
Container Security Initiative Port of Santos, Brazil, is Targeting and Pre-Screening Cargo Destined for U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner and Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid, Secretary of Federal Revenue Secretariat, Brazil, announced the port of Santos as the 39th operational Container Security Initiative (CSI) port to target and pre-screen maritime cargo containers destined for U.S. ports.
John J. Danilovich, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, and Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid signed the declaration of principles on May 24, 2005.
"CSI serves as the cornerstone of a global strategy for securing global trade lanes. CSI adds another layer of protection to our day-to-day seagoing commerce," Commissioner Bonner said. "Due to the continued support of CSI by the government of Brazil, the CSI security blanket is now expanding and strengthening as it encompasses the port of Santos. We are united behind a common goal to use our Customs authorities and Customs-to-Customs cooperation to secure and facilitate the movement of global trade."
The port of Santos is the largest port in South America and a major export center, making it a strategic location for screening cargo destined for the United States. Santos is located on the Atlantic coast about 100 kilometers from Sao Paulo.
CBP will deploy a team of officers to be stationed at the port of Santos to target maritime containers destined for the United States. Brazilian Customs officials, working with CBP officers, will be responsible for screening any containers identified as a potential terrorist risk.
CSI adds security to the movement of maritime cargo containers to the U.S. and it allows containers to move faster, more efficiently and more predictably through the supply chain.
With 39 CSI operational ports, approximately 75 percent of cargo containers headed to the U.S. originate in or are transshipped from CSI ports.
"The government of Brazil firmly opposes and condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and actively takes actions to prevent and combat all terrorist activities," stated Jorge Antonio Deher Rachid, Secretary of Federal Revenue Secretariat.
Under the Container Security Initiative, CBP has entered into bilateral partnerships to identify high-risk cargo containers before they are loaded on vessels destined for the United States. Today, a total of 24 administrations have committed to join CSI and are at various stages of implementation. Currently, there are 39 operational CSI ports in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and North and South America.
CSI was created as a multinational initiative to protect the global trade lanes by protecting the primary system of global trade -- containerized shipping -- from being exploited and disrupted by global terrorists. Before 9/11, there was no program to detect, deter, and prevent the concealment of a nuclear device in cargo containers. Now CSI is an accepted model of international cooperation to protect the global supply chain against terrorism. By the end of 2006, CBP's goal is to have 50 operational ports covering more than 90 percent of the sea cargo moving to and from the United States through the trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific corridor.
CSI will continue to expand to strategic locations around the world. The World Customs Organization (WCO), the European Union (EU), and the G8 support CSI expansion and have adopted resolutions implementing CSI security measures introduced at ports throughout the world.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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