International Trade Law News

Published by Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC

By a vote of 421-2 vote, on May 4, 2006 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4954, the Security and Accountability for Every Port (SAFE) Act. During the floor debate, the House considered and voted upon 15 amendments to the bill, 13 of which were passed by a voice vote.

The more significant amendments that were passed included: requiring the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment study of the National Targeting Center and recommendations to strengthen the center, six months after implementation of the Act; requiring DHS to conduct a pilot project at an overseas port similar to the Integrated Container Inspection System (ICIS) in Hong Kong. The two amendments that failed included an amendment introduced by Jeff Flake (R-AZ) effort to block the creation of an additional federal Homeland Security grant program and an amendment introduced by Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) that would prohibits the current Customs and Border Protection (CBP) practice of granting automated targeting risk score reductions to Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) members that have not yet been validated by CBP (i.e., Tier One members). House leaders refused to consider a proposal to amend the bill to require scanning and sealing of all cargo containers at foreign ports before entering U.S. ports (within three years for large ports, five years for all others).

The Senate will soon begin consideration of similar port security legislation, including the GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act, S.2459, the companion bill to H.R. 4954, and S.1052, the Transportation Security Improvement Act.

The following is a summary of the main provisions of H.R. 4954 included in the bill passed by the House:

C-TPAT-Related Provisions

• Codifies the existing Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program and the three tiers of C-TPAT benefits.
  
• Requires all C-TPAT participants to be validated within one year of acceptance into the program and be revalidated every three years.
  
• Provides that participants failing validations may be denied C-TPAT benefits or suspended or expelled from C-TPAT.
  
• Tier Three C-TPAT members may be eligible for enhanced benefits, such as expedited release of during all threat levels, reduced or streamlined bonding requirements, further reduced examinations, priority processing for examinations, further reduced scores in the Automated Targeting System and streamlined billing of any customs duties or fees.
  
• Requires CBP to suspend or expel for at least five years any C-TPAT participants that intentionally provide false or misleading information to DHS or a third party entity during the validation process.
  
• Requires DHS to carry out a pilot program to test the feasibility, costs and benefits of utilizing third party entities to conduct validations of C-TPAT participants.
  
• Authorizes $75,000,000 per year from 2007 through 2012 for C-TPAT.

• Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deploy nuclear and radiological detection systems at 22 U.S. seaports by the end of FY2007, which will cover 98% of incoming maritime containers, and to establish standard operating procedures for examining containers;
• Provides $400 million per year in risk-based funding through a dedicated Port Security Grant Program to harden U.S. ports against terrorist attacks;
  
• Requires individual having full authority to implement Maritime Facility Security Plans to be a U.S. citizen, although that requirement could be waived if a background check is conducted and the person is not identified on any terrorist watchlist;
• Sets deadlines for DHS implementation of the Transportation Worker Information Credential (TWIC) program, a biometrically-enhanced identification card for access to secure seaport facilities; in the interim, requires DHS to conduct terrorist watch-list and immigration status checks of all port employees with access to secure areas within 90 days of enactment;
• Requires the DHS Secretary to enhance port security coordination between federal, state, local, and private sector partners by establishing an integrated network of virtual and physical command centers;
• Requires the DHS Secretary to establish port security training and exercise programs to ensure that first responders, longshoremen and port management possess the skills necessary to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from threatened or actual acts of terrorism, natural disasters or other emergencies;
• Requires the DHS Secretary to develop protocols for resuming trade after a transportation security incident through planning, improved government and private sector coordination, and prioritization of vessels;
• Requires DHS to establish a secure communications system to provide and receive threat information to and from the private sector related to supply chain security;
• Fully-funds the recently-established DHS's Office of Domestic Nuclear Detection (DNDO) to coordinate the Federal Government’s global nuclear detection architecture and carry out research and development; Requires DNDO to conduct operational testing of next-generation nuclear and radiological detection systems and a deployment timeline for completing installation of such equipment at all U.S. seaports;
• Codifies the recently-established Office of Policy at DHS, which will improve the consistency of policy and regulatory development across the Department and include a Director of Cargo Security Policy.
  

• Requires the DHS Secretary to develop standards for sealing containers en route to the U.S. within 180 days and implementation within two years;
• Revives Operation Safe Commerce, devoting $25 million per year to improve utilization of private sector initiatives, boost research and development activities, and enhance coordination within DHS;
• Directs DHS to conduct additional research and testing on technology integration, access control, and data sharing capabilities for port security;
• Improves the International Trade Data System, which links all Federal commercial data to ensure more thorough security checks while providing the private sector with a single system to submit required information;
• Provisions Relating to Preventing Threats from Reaching the U.S.
• Improves the Automated Targeting System (ATS) by requiring DHS to collect additional cargo data from importers bringing material through U.S. ports;
• Codifies the existing Container Security Initiative (CSI), which enables DHS to examine high-risk maritime cargo at foreign seaports, and requires DHS to conduct security assessments for foreign ports that seek to participate in the CSI program; The bill requires the Secretary of DHS to refuse high risk cargo that the host nation refuses to inspect. The bill authorize $1.176 billion from 2007-2012 ($196 million each year) for CSI;
  
• Authorizes DHS, through the CSI program, to loan detection equipment and provide training to host nations to effectively examine containers bound for the United States;
• Requires DHS to continuously evaluate and report annually on emerging radiological detection and imaging technology for cargo and measure those new technologies against real world performance criteria. When effective new technology is identified, DHS is required to work in cooperation with the Department of State to, within six months, seek the cooperation of foreign governments to aggressively deploy that technology at overseas ports.
  

Labels: Customs