CBP's Ability to Detect Biological and Chemical Threats in Maritime Cargo Containers (Redacted)

摘要

Section 809(g) of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-293) requires the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to submit an annual report on its evaluation of the current cargo inspection targeting system for international intermodal cargo containers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for operation of the targeting system and conducting cargo container examinations. This review addresses the tools, information, and guidance that the CBP officers use to examine high-risk containers that potentially contain biological and chemical weapons. CBP has taken steps to mitigate the threat of nuclear and radiological weapons in maritime cargo containers, but could do more to mitigate the threats posed by biological and chemical weapons. CBP officials said that new devices are currently being developed and tested that could help officers rapidly detect and identify biological and chemical threats during cargo inspections. However, CBP has not conducted a formal risk assessment to determine which pathways, including maritime cargo, pose the highest risk of biological and chemical weapons entering the Nation. Conducting a formal risk assessment of the various pathways would help ensure that CBP allocates its detection technology development resources to threat pathways that pose the highest risk to national security. In addition, CBP needs updated policies and procedures on how inspections for such threats are to be conducted. Without updated policies to focus cargo inspections, biological and chemical threats may go undetected. CBP concurred with our recommendations to complete a risk assessment and update its policies and procedures for inspecting cargo containers for biological and chemical threats.