DHS Working Toward Improved Supply Chain Security, Says Official in House Testimony

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working in the Asia-Pacific region to increase supply chain security there, DHS Office of International Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Koumans said during testimony May 8, 2012. He also lauded a number of existing programs said to have helped the trade relationship between the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region. Koumans spoke before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Transportation Security during a hearing on “Building Secure Partnerships in Travel, Commerce, and Trade with the Asia-Pacific Region.”

In line with the recently released National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security, DHS is working with key partners to develop regional commitment to efficient, secure, and resilient global supply chains. Secretary Napolitano signed joint statements with New Zealand in 2011 and just recently with Singapore on April 11th, with the intent of expanding on our already solid bilateral cooperative relationships by facilitating legitimate trade and travel, while preventing terrorists from exploiting supply chains, protecting transportation systems from attacks and disruptions, and increasing the resilience of global supply chains.

DHS works with partners in the region to build a framework that shares security costs and responsibilities and regional cooperation in the areas of port and border security capacity, combined with a general regional commitment to more enhanced cooperation, allows DHS to utilize a wide range of programs to address the rapidly evolving challenges of Asia-Pacific, he said.

Key initiatives listed by Koumans include:

• The U.S. Coast Guard, working within the framework of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, encourages bilateral and multilateral discussions throughout the region in an effort to exchange information and share best practices that align implementation and enforcement requirements to international maritime security standards.
• Trusted Traveler and Trusted Trader programs facilitate the secure movement of goods and people wherever they have been applied and represent essential steps forward in broader international security. These programs are the core elements that enable DHS to secure the nation against the direct threat of transnational crime against the homeland -- including the movement of terrorists -- and secure the nation against the exploitation of the global supply chain for illicit purpose.
• CBP’s Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT): DHS participates in on site validations of manufacturing and logistics facilities to enhance cargo security in 97 countries. Mutual recognition between C-TPAT and the Authorized Economic Operators programs of our Asia-Pacific partners is a sharp incentive for enhancing security for the manufacturers and shippers that voluntarily participate in the program. Over the last four years, DHS has established mutual recognition of these programs with Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Pilot programs in China and other states are also promoting higher standards of security within the private sector with the objective of preventing costly disruption to international trade and commerce.
• The Container Security Initiative (CSI) continues to be a highly successful program in partnership with foreign authorities to identify and inspect high-risk cargo containers originating at ports throughout the world before they are loaded on vessels destined for the U.S. Key Asia-Pacific partners include high volume ports in China, Japan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore.