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DHS and DOE Launch Secure Freight Initiative

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Megaports Initiative, Department of Energy

Secure Freight Initiative: Vision and Operations Overview

Release Date: December 7, 2006

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

I. Our Vision: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with maritime industry and foreign government partners, are launching Phase I of the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) to deploy a globally integrated network of radiation detection and container imaging equipment to be operated in seaports worldwide. Our purpose is to prevent terrorists from using nuclear or other radiological materials to attack the global maritime supply chain or using cargo containers to bring the resources for such an attack to the United States.

Our plan is to deploy next-generation tools and integrated systems, along with other proven technologies, to scan maritime container cargo. Phase I of the Secure Freight Initiative will leverage the DOE Megaports Initiative, DHS Container Security Initiative, DHS domestic nuclear detection program, and recent test deployments of relevant technology.

Containers arriving at participating seaports overseas will be scanned with both non-intrusive radiographic imaging and passive radiation detection equipment placed at terminal arrival gates. Optical scanning technology will be used to identify containers and classify them by destination. Relay cargo — containers being moved from one ship to another — would also be inspected with such technology, as adapted in consultation with operators for the transshipment environment. The inspection tools will include the use of enhanced radiological detection technology, which DHS will also begin deploying domestically within the next year.

Sensor and image data gathered regarding containers inbound to the United States will be encrypted and transmitted near real-time to the National Targeting Center operated by DHS's Customs and Border Protection. There, these data will be combined with other available risk assessment data, such as currently required manifest submissions, to improve risk scoring and targeting of high-risk containers for further scrutiny overseas.

If the scanning data indicate concerns, the specific container will be inspected further, based upon appropriate response protocols established with the host government authorities. Participating host governments would have immediate access to all scanning data collected, including any scans conducted on non-U.S. bound containers. All alarms from the radiation detection equipment for any container will be resolved locally. For containers bound for the United States, this can include requesting the host government to open and inspect the container's contents or instructing carriers under existing regulations not to load the container until the risk is fully resolved. Any specific images or scanning data shared with private sector operators will be appropriately protected and restricted.

Our ultimate vision is to create a globally networked array of detection equipment that will be configured to enable real-time streaming of container images and radiological detection data to other countries engaged in maritime trade. This government-to-government data sharing will support stronger and more internationally harmonized risk reduction for global freight movement.

DHS and the DOE acknowledge the important role that will be played by terminal operating companies, ocean carriers and host governments. For Secure Freight to succeed, it must balance enhanced container security with an imperative to facilitate efficient global trade. Our private sector partners will provide indispensable operational experience needed to help strike the appropriate balance.

II. Initial Deployment. DHS and DOE will partner with international terminal operators, ocean carriers and host governments to deploy the equipment utilized in Phase I implementation. We expect to begin operations in this initial Phase of the program in approximately six foreign ports within eighteen months. Based on the lessons learned from the first Phase, a second Phase, with more extensive deployments, will follow.

Founding members of the Secure Freight Initiative include maritime terminal operators and ocean carriers who have pledged to support this effort at facilities they operate overseas. It is anticipated that the governments and ports participating in the initial deployment Phase will be drawn from those currently active in DHS's Container Security Initiative and/or DOE's Megaports Initiative.

III. Secure Freight Program Overview. The overall Secure Freight Initiative will have two core elements, the first of which is described here. In addition, DHS is actively preparing a complementary Secure Freight Initiative: a next-generation risk scoring capability to fuse certain existing, but not currently collected, data associated with a container's movement. Taken as a whole, the two-pronged Secure Freight Initiative will significantly strengthen maritime security and global non-proliferation efforts. Furthermore, its richer pool of container risk data will support more efficient recovery from any attack that might occur.

IV. Partnership Responsibilities. Our purpose in signing this document is to define what we want to accomplish and to lay out a path that immediately puts us to work on achieving these goals. The undersigned parties have mutually embraced the vision and operating framework described in this document.

A. U.S. Government. DHS will take the lead for this initiative, in partnership with DOE and the Department of State (DOS). Specifically:

DHS will establish a Secure Freight Program Office, headed by a director reporting directly to the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, to manage the program.
DHS, DOE and DOS will seek effective cooperation with host nations.
DHS and DOE will — at approximately six Phase 1 ports — collectively acquire and deploy passive radiation detection equipment, active non-intrusive imaging systems, and optical character recognition technology to identify containers and classify them by destination prior to loading. Operational details regarding these deployments will, in each case, be established through formal operating agreements among the relevant parties.
DHS will undertake to create a network system whereby Secure Freight scanning inspection data only for containers inbound to the United States will be isolated and transmitted to Customs and Border Protection's data center for analysis.
DHS will analyze the resulting data for the presence or suspected presence of threat materials and report any such concerns to the appropriate host government officials immediately.
DHS will provide terminal operators and ocean carriers appropriate and timely information to facilitate threat resolution.
DHS, DOE and DOS will work with host governments to establish protocols that ensure all radiation alarms are swiftly resolved by the host government at the port of detection.
DHS and DOE will evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and overall success of the Phase 1 deployments in collaboration with terminal operators, ocean carriers, host governments and other stakeholders prior to the development of Phase 2 deployments.

B. Private Sector Partners. The maritime terminal operating companies, ocean carriers, and others signing below will support Phase I deployment of the Secure Freight Initiative. Subject to the terms of mutually agreeable operating agreements with DHS for Phase I, which will include the right to terminate participation by any party with 30 days written notice, participating terminal operators will:

Designate and make available international terminal facilities for initial deployments, in coordination with local governments and consistent with this operational framework and all applicable laws.
Develop procedures, in coordination with U.S. and host governments, for efficient, timely, and effective processing.
Facilitate container movements necessary for screening, bearing in mind the unique characteristics and resulting potential costs of transshipment ports.
Assign and support training of appropriate personnel.
Limit operational access to security-sensitive data and operations to authorized personnel only.
Cooperate in research, development and deployment efforts towards adaptable, scaleable and flexible systems to inspect maritime containers, consistent withSecure Freight's Phase I, described herein.

Secure Freight Initiative: A Coalition of Terminal Operators, Ocean Carriers, and Shippers Committed to Supply Chain Security

Ocean Carriers

Charles Diorio
Director of Government Affairs - World Shipping Council

William F. Rooney
Managing Director, American Headquarters - Hanjin Shipping

Eric Lawton Mensing
President, APL Maritime/VP Government Affairs APL Ltd.

Eugene K. Pentimonti
Senior Vice President, Government Relations - Maersk Inc.

Shippers

Barry O'Brien
Director, Global Trade and Customs - Hasbro Inc.

Leigh Arnold Schmid
Vice President, Limited Brands

William Tenney
Group Manager, Business Intelligence & International Supply Chain Security – Target

Scott P. Boylan
Senior Counsel, Director of Government Relations - GE Security

Theo W. Fletcher
Vice President, Import Compliance & Supply Chain Security – IBM

Robert Lee Culpepper
Vice President, Federal Government Relations - Wal Mart Stores, Inc.

Bryan W. Jacobs
Director, Government Relations -The Home Depot

Terminal Operators

Tony A. Scioscia
President, APM Terminals North America, Inc.

Michael Moore
Executive Vice President, DP World

Eric Lawton Mensing
President, APL Maritime/VP Government Affairs APL Ltd.

Gary D. Gilbert
Senior Vice President, Hutchison Port Holdings

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This page was last reviewed/modified on December 7, 2006.

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