Opinion

Container Security: Is the Layered Approach Working?

Guest columnist Jim Giermanski says the government's five-layered approach to container security is on the right track, but needs significant improvements

By James Giermanski

Layer-2: Screening through the Automated Targeting System (ATS) and National Targeting Center (NTC)
CBP says that the ATS is one of the most advanced targeting systems in the world. "CBP uses ATS to improve the collection, use, analysis, and dissemination of information that is gathered for the primary purpose of targeting, identifying, and preventing potential terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. Additionally, ATS is utilized by CBP to identify other violations of U.S. laws that are enforced by CBP." Basically, CBP through ATS collects various data from itself through CBP's own systems, except for one, the Treasury Enforcement Communications System. These systems as they relate to cargo are the:

• Automated Commercial System (ACS)
• Automated Manifest System (AMS)
• Automated Export System (AES)
• Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)
• Treasury Enforcement Communication System (TECS).

The data obtained "includes electronically filed bills, entries, and entry summaries for cargo imports; shippers' export declarations and transportation bookings and bills for cargo exports; manifests for arriving and departing passengers; land-border crossing and referral records for vehicles crossing the border; airline reservation data; nonimmigrant entry records; and records from secondary referrals, incident logs, suspect and violator indices, and seizures."

Although AMS and ACE are CBP-based, AES is not. "The Automated Export System (AES) is a joint venture between CBP, the Foreign Trade Division of the Bureau of the Census (Commerce), the Bureau of Industry and Security (Commerce), the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (State), other Federal agencies, and the export trade community." It's a central point through which exporters and/or their agents identify the products they are selling abroad. It serves primarily for export compliance and export data used by the Bureau of Census. However, ATS does draw more data from one source that is not its own: TECS. TECS has access to the National Crime Information Data Base (NCIC) which allows further access to the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS). TECS also includes names of individuals on terrorist watch lists. The next obvious question is who analyzes the data. CBP uses the National Targeting Center.

The NTC was established in 2001 and provides target-specific information to CBP field offices. With more than 100 employees, the center works around the clock. According to CBP, "The NTC has given CBP the ability to identify previously unknown, as well as known, persons involved in terrorism." Analysts or targeters, as they are called by CBP, are CBP personnel. These targeters also do data mining to develop potential targets. CBP says that the targeting center looks at any resource that could support a terrorist effort, ranging from individuals to raw materials that could be used in constructing nuclear and chemical weaponry.

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