Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.
Issue link: https://uscgproceedings.epubxp.com/i/284910
48 Proceedings Spring 2014 www.uscg.mil/proceedings Today, the Coast Guard's International Port Security (IPS) Program assesses foreign port security and works to develop enhanced practices, laws, and regulations to improve U.S. border security and that of our foreign maritime trading partners. Building upon IMOÕs International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, the U.S. Coast Guard has developed a detailed model to help developing nations identify and address some of the more intricate aspects of port security regulation. The Model Port Security Compendium (MPSC) strengthens border security at the source Ñ thereby protect- ing U.S. shipping and strengthening the global maritime transportation system. International Port Security Program However, global maritime trade is not an accumulation of point-to-point transactions. Rather, it closely resembles an intricate web, in which containerized cargoes from one country are routinely trans-shipped through other ports, broken down, reloaded, mixed, and mingled with contain- ers from around the world, and then reshipped aboard different carriers originating from different ports. Under these conditions, the post-9/11 U.S. faced only two options to address this seemingly overwhelming border security challenge: • increase domestic port security measures; • promote enhanced international ship and port security standards, thereby strengthening the integrity of the entire global maritime transportation system. While the frst task largely fell to the captains of the port, the Coast Guard created the International Port Security Pro- gram in 2005 to address the second. By law, the Homeland Security secretary, through the Coast Guard, is required to assess the effectiveness of our foreign trading partner portÕs antiterrorism measures, and then Following the 2001 terror attacks, the U.S. Congress enacted the Maritime Transportation Security Act, which tasked the Coast Guard with a number of enhanced domestic port security duties. However, Congress also recognized that a line on a map does not necessarily represent a ÒborderÓ and called upon the Coast Guard to pursue security beyond our borders all the way to the ports of foreign nations fre- quented by U.S. shipping. 1 A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats The international approach to U.S. border security. by Mr. l. stePhen Cox Legal Section Director U.S. Coast Guard International Port Security Program Border Operations U.S. Coast Guard Petty Offcer Brady Vanderpol reviews chart-plotting and navigation with Haitian port facility security personnel. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Offcer Thomas M. Blue. "In the present day friendly, though foreign, ports are to be found all over the world; and their shelter is enough when peace prevails." — Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783. Spring2014_FINAL.indd 48 3/21/14 11:14 AM