15 November 2004

Global milestone reached with 32 operational CSI ports

The following press release is from US Customs and Border Protection on 12 November 2004.

On November 12, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner announced a milestone in the Container Security Initiative (CSI) with 32 ports now operational in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

“Let me assure you, we are doing everything we reasonably and responsibly can to carry out that extraordinarily important priority mission,” Commissioner Bonner said. “As U.S. Customs and Border Protection works to carry out its priority antiterrorism mission, and its traditional missions, we have devised ways to do so without choking off the flow of legitimate trade so important to our nation’s economy.”….

Under CSI, CBP has entered into bilateral partnerships with other governments to identify high-risk cargo containers and to pre-screen them before they are loaded on vessels destined for the United States. Today, governments representing 20 countries have signed up to implement CSI….

In fiscal year 2004, CSI opened fourteen new ports. In addition, the CSI program expanded training and added new courses to better prepare selected CSI personnel with the necessary tools. Over 800 personnel have participated in the CSI program and each received comprehensive training classes in Sea Cargo Targeting, Security Overseas Seminar, Radiation Academy Training, Non Intrusive Inspection, and Department of State courses on overseas security.

The operational ports include: Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver, Canada; Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Le Havre, France; Bremerhaven and Hamburg, Germany; Antwerp and Zeebrugge, Belgium; Singapore; Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kobe, Japan; Hong Kong; Göteborg, Sweden; Felixstowe, Liverpool, Southampton, Thamesport, and Tilbury, United Kingdom; Genoa, La Spezia, Naples, and Gioia Tauro, Italy; Busan, Korea; Durban, South Africa; Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia; Piraeus, Greece; Algeciras, Spain; and Laem Chabang, Thailand.

CSI will continue to expand to strategic locations that ship substantial amounts of cargo to the United States, and that have the infrastructure and technology in place to participate in the program.