U.S. Customs Anti-Terrorist Initiatives
 
December 13, 2001
 

The U.S. Customs Service has recently launched several initiatives in the fight against terrorism. Project Shield America is intended to prevent international terrorist organizations from obtaining sensitive U.S. technology, weapons and other equipment that could help them carry out attacks. Under that program, Customs has compiled a list of approximately 100 items that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction or to help terrorists evade detection or capture. The Trade Partnerships Against Terrorism have the goal of engaging the entire trade community, including exporters, importers, and carriers, in a cooperative relationship to fight terrorism by exchanging anti-terrorism ideas, concepts and information. Customs has asked that the trade community review its entire logistics chain and incorporate sound security principles to reduce their exposure to product and conveyance tampering. Failure to do so will necessitate Customs to classify the importer or carrier into an ‘unknown category’ resulting in higher scrutiny, increased reviews and audits, added examinations, requests for more information, and no guarantee of processing times.