U.S. Customs Agents To Be Stationed in Le Havre
The Port of Le Havre Authority is ready to accept a team of U.S. Customs inspectors working closely with French Customs officers under an agreement between the French and United States Governments that makes France’s most important port for container traffic part of the Container Security Initiative (CSI) of U.S. Customs. The agreement was announced today in Europe by Robert Bonner, Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, and Alain Cadiou, Director General of French Customs and Excise Service. The CSI is designed to enhance the security of global maritime shipping. “Security measures are of major concern to the Port of Le Havre and we are seeking to harmonize our efforts with other European ports,” said Jean-Marc Lacave, Executive Director of the Port of Le Havre Authority.
U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative Forging Ahead
The U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative (CSI) is a program launched by Commissioner Robert Bonner, on January 17 in a speech given at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSI secures an indispensable, but vulnerable, link in the chain of global trade: the oceangoing sea container. Customs plays a unique role in processing maritime trade, an ever-expanding stream of commerce, while continually protecting America from terrorism and crime. · The volume of trade moving through the nation’s 102 seaports has nearly doubled since 1995. · In 2001, U.S. Customs processed more than 214,000 vessels and 5.7 million sea containers. · Approximately 90 percent of the world’s cargo moves by container. · Globally over 200 million cargo containers move between major seaports each year.
