The global supply chain brings with it rapidly-evolving threats. So said the United States’ Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano during her recent visit to Europe: “The persistent desire of terrorist and criminal groups to try again and again to perfect their tactics and techniques should motivate all of us to act with urgency and purpose.”
She was speaking on June 23 to the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Council, in Brussels. She made the point that the global supply chain system ‘constitutes not only a target of attack, or the subject of catastrophic disruption from natural incidents, but also a potential conduit for transporting devastating dangers to our people, our critical infrastructure, and our overall economies’. She recalled the attempted bombing of two US-bound planes in October 2010 using cargo packed with explosives. Then the global community turned attention to securing air cargo and international mail. She described this as ‘a real vulnerability and a critical issue’.
She spoke of how she had visited Rotterdam seaport and Schiphol airport, and saw ‘the incredible volumes of cargo and passengers moving through these facilities. I was reminded yet again of the speed and efficiency of this complex network, and also of the necessary relationship between the security of the global supply chain and economic prosperity. As we know, these two elements are interrelated and interdependent.’
She said: “Supply chains transcend national borders and rely upon transportation systems in the air, land, and sea environments. The very nature of travel, trade, and commerce in our networked world means that a vulnerability or gap in one part of the chain can have major implications thousands of miles away.
“Yesterday in Rotterdam and Amsterdam I saw ships and planes that were carrying everything from petrochemicals and car parts to grains and tulips to and from every continent on earth. Around the world, our citizens, consumers, and businesses rely on this complex system working every day – a fact well known to those who may seek to disrupt global commerce. Therefore, multilateral organisations such as the WCO – as well as the IMO (International Maritime Organization, www.imo.org) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization, www.icao.int) – play a critical role in strengthening the system and making it more secure, efficient, and resilient to possible disruptions.
“Ten years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, we continue to see the determination of individuals and groups to target our nations and our economies. And we have seen the impact that major cascading disasters can have on supply chains and economies worldwide. The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear tragedies in Japan, for example, exacted a terrible human toll, of course, and also had a major impact on several automakers and on production in numerous countries.”
She applauded the WCO and ICAO’s work to continuously assess evolving threats and develop our capacity to target suspect shipments.
“Both organisations have made significant progress in developing updated risk assessments and are also working to adopt a common definition of high-risk cargo. A common understanding of risk between customs authorities and transportation security officials not only will enhance business efficiencies, but also will ensure that we focus attention on those shipments that warrant additional scrutiny while expediting the movement of lawful goods.”
She reported that she met with the IMO Secretary General Mitropoulos in London earlier. She said that the IMO has now approved guidance concerning the implementation of its landmark International Ship and Port Facility Security, or ISPS, Code. She described this document as ‘a ground-breaking resource that will help achieve better compliance and consistency across member states’.
She called for global guidelines for the elements of air cargo information collection, ‘the provision of which is critical to protect both passengers and aircraft. Government authorities need this information before any departure of aircraft to ensure that we have the time available to review the data and make informed decisions’.
She stressed that the goal ‘should be not merely to increase security, but to accelerate legitimate trade. As my third recommendation, I call on us all to develop global guidelines for trusted, or “known,” trader programs that incorporate the needs of both customs and transportation security officials and to re-double national efforts to mutually recognise each others’ programmes’.
On resilience, she said: “Simply put, the global supply chain system must be able to continue to function, and quickly recover, from major disruptions, because the efficient functioning of the global logistics system – of real-time inventories – is essential to the global economy.”
