Container Security Initiative

The Container Security Initiative (CSI) is managed by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It is intended to improve US border security and protect the global trading system by screening US-bound shipping containers in ports around the world.

CSI addresses the threat to border security and global trade posed by the potential for terrorist use of a maritime container to deliver a weapon. CSI proposes a security regime to ensure all containers that pose a potential risk for terrorism are identified and inspected at foreign ports before they are placed on vessels destined for the United States. CBP has stationed multidisciplinary teams of U.S. officers from both CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to work together with host foreign government counterparts. Their mission is to target and prescreen containers and to develop additional investigative leads related to terrorist threats to cargo destined to the United States.

Below are commonly asked questions and answers on CSI provided by CBP.

·     When was the Container Security initiative developed and why?

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, US Customs Service, now US Customs and Border Protection, began developing antiterrorism programs.  Within months the Container Security Initiative (CSI) had been created to protect the global trading system and the trade lanes between CSI ports and the United States. Under CSI, a team of officers is deployed to work with host nation counterparts to target all containers that pose a potential threat. Announced in January 2002, CSI was first implemented in the ports shipping the greatest volume of containers to the United States. Today, customs administrations all over the world have committed to joining CSI and are at various stages of implementation. CSI is now operational at ports in North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and throughout Asia.

·        How does CSI work?

CSI addresses the threat to security and global trade that is posed by potential terrorist use of a maritime container to deliver a weapon. CSI uses a security regime to ensure all containers that pose a potential risk for terrorism are identified and inspected at foreign ports before they are placed on vessels destined for the United Sates. Through CSI, CBP officials work with host customs administrations to establish security criteria for identifying high-risk containers. Those administrations use non-intrusive inspection (NII) and radiation detection technology to screen high-risk containers before they are shipped to U.S. ports. 

·        What are CSI’s core elements?

The three core elements of CSI are:

Identify high-risk containers.  CBP uses automated targeting tools to identify containers that pose a potential risk for terrorism, based on advance information and strategic intelligence.

Prescreen and evaluate containers before they are shipped.  Containers are screened as early in the supply chain as possible, generally at the port of departure.

Use technology to prescreen high-risk containers to ensure that screening can be done rapidly without slowing down the movement of trade.  This technology includes large-scale X-ray and gamma ray machines and radiation detection devices.

·        What are CSI’s future goals?

Most cargo imported into the United States is already subjected to prescreening.  CSI continues 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.

·        Does the U.S. offer reciprocity with CSI participating countries?

Yes. CSI, a reciprocal program, offers its participant countries the opportunity to send their customs officers to major U.S. ports to target ocean-going, containerized cargo being exported to their countries. Likewise, CBP shares information on a bilateral basis with its CSI partners. Japan and Canada currently station their customs personnel in some U.S. ports as part of the CSI program.

·        What are the eligibility requirements for the expansion phase of CSI?

To be eligible for the expansion phase of CSI, candidate nation must commit to the following minimum standards:

1.       The Customs Administration must be able to inspect cargo originating, transiting, exiting, or being transshipped through a country. NII equipment (including equipment with gamma or X-ray imaging capabilities) and radiation detection equipment must be available and utilized for conducting such inspections. This equipment is necessary in order to meet the objective of quickly screening containers without disrupting the flow of legitimate trade.

2.       The seaport must have regular, direct, and substantial container traffic to ports in the United States.

3.       Commit to establishing a risk management system to identify potentially high-risk containers, and automating that system. This system should include a mechanism for validating threat assessments and targeting decisions and identifying best practices.

4.       Commit to sharing critical data, intelligence, and risk management information with the United States Customs and Border Protection in order to do collaborative targeting, and developing an automated mechanism for these exchanges.

5.       Conduct a thorough port assessment to ascertain vulnerable links in a port’s infrastructure and commit to resolving those vulnerabilities.

6.       Commit to maintaining integrity programs to prevent lapses in employee integrity and to identify and combat breaches in integrity.

·        Does the addition of U.S. officers cause delays in the flow of goods through ports that participate in CSI, reducing their competitiveness?

No.  In fact, it should make the movement of low risk cargo containers even more efficient. Cargo typically sits on the pier for several days waiting to be exported. CSI targets containers and screens them before they depart. This way we use the waiting time at the port of export to do our work, so when the container arrives in the U.S. it can be immediately released.  The containers we target are going to be searched.  It’s a question of where and when, not if.

·        Who pays for screening and, if necessary, the unloading of containers?

The host country determines who pays for the direct cost of screening and unloading containers.  In the U.S., however, the importer pays the costs associated with moving, inspecting, and unloading containers.

·        How many U.S. officers are assigned to a particular port?

The needs of each port are addressed individually. Typically we begin by deploying a small number of officers, then assess the program and make adjustments as necessary.

·        Do host countries incur additional costs for participating in CSI?

CBP does not believe this initiative entails substantial new costs to the host nations. CBP pays to deploy officers and computers in foreign seaports and many host nations already have screening and detection technology in place. To the extent that additional detector or IT equipment is needed to implement CSI, it is an investment in the security of the port and the national economy of a CSI host country.

·        Are officers stationed in foreign ports armed? Do they have arrest powers?

No. American officers at these ports are not armed nor do they have arrest powers. The officers work jointly with the host country authorities to screen U.S.-bound containers. They operate in accordance with the guidelines of the host country and the terms of the declaration of principles to implement CSI.

·        Do CBP officers stationed at the foreign ports screen all cargo or just cargo bound for the United States?

CBP officers deployed in foreign countries target with the host country only cargo containers destined for or transiting through the United States.  Only those U.S.-bound containers identified as potential threats are examined either by NII or physical exams.  Host country officials conduct the examination and CBP officers observe the security screening.

·        Does pre-screened U.S.-bound sea cargo get expedited processing through CBP upon arrival to the United States?

Yes. If a shipment has already been jointly examined by U.S. and the host country’s customs officials, that is one less shipment that CBP officers will have to worry about at a U.S. port. It allows us to focus more of our attention on high-risk shipments that have not been prescreened. CBP is always testing new technology, such as tamper-evident seals, that we hope to place on containers that have been pre-screened overseas to assist in this process. CBP ultimately reserves the right to inspect any cargo container that arrives in the United States, whether it has been pre-screened or not. However, this is only done if additional information becomes available during transit, or the integrity of a seal is found to be compromised.

·        Does CBP provide X-ray or gamma ray detection technology to help scan containers?

CSI implementation requires the host country to have NII equipment. Many of the countries already have large container screening machines. In fact, some ports already have extremely sophisticated detection technology in operation.

·        Are model laws and regulations available to guide the implementation of CSI in a host country?  

When discussing the implementation of CSI, a nation depends upon its native laws and customs. CBP has been drafted separate and unique declarations with each participating port to accommodate differences. In addition, as CSI is a cooperative effort, CBP can assist foreign governments in reviewing existing laws and crafting new legislation to support implementation if they so desire.

·        Does it take more time to export a product with CSI?

No.  The targeting and examination are accomplished during the lag time between the cargo’s arrival at the foreign port and its lading onto a ship for departure to a U.S. port.

Click here for more information on CBP's Container Security Initiative.