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Summary: The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent government watchdog organization that has been publishing many reports on the US government’s supply chain security initiatives over the past ten years. This article reviews 25 most relevant GAO’s reports that discuss strengths, weaknesses and future challenges of the US policies and regulations on supply chain security. The review findings reveal interesting facts about similarities and differences of the US and the EU approaches to supply chain security. This comparison opens new venues for further Transatlantic benchmarking as well as harmonisation and mutual recognition of supply chain security programs. This review was conducted as part of European FP7-Project CORE. The reviewed document is available for download here: https://hicl.org. Review by Toni Männistö (CBRA)
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Full review: The GAO reports suggest that the US administration has been struggling with effective performance monitoring and auditing of its supply chain security initiatives. The reports indicate that there is some confusion about costs of security initiatives for the government and for the business community. There is also a lack of common understanding about the actual benefits of many of these programs. The GAO reports also urge US government officials to adopt risk-based approach to supply chain security, for example to use information and intelligence to assess risk levels of specific shipments, people, trading companies, and other entities, and then employ security solutions that are commensurate to the risk level. The GAO reports also emphasize the importance of involving the industry in the process of defining new policies and regulations.
Altogether, the review team found that the GAO documents are not only highly relevant for SCS management and governance but also of high quality. The study concludes that it might be useful for the EU to establish a quality-assurance organization similar to the US GAO. This new EU body would oversee spending of the EU and its member states on supply chain security programs and projects and this way improve efficiency of such investments.
Reference: Männistö, T., and Hintsa J., (2015), “A Decade of GAO’s Supply Chain Security Oversight,” Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference in Logistics (HICL), September 24-25, 2015, Hamburg
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Summary: In a recent study, a joint CBRA-INTERPOL research team investigates what kind of training material would help law enforcement agencies to fight crime in the context of global supply chains. The team conducted a pilot survey at the LE TrainNet Meeting (Networking Meeting of the Law Enforcement training institutions) which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, 28- 29 April 2015. Findings of the pilot survey will be used to launch a large EU-wide survey on law enforcement agencies’ training needs regarding supply chain security. The survey findings also guide production of new training and educational material that the FP7 CORE is currently producing. The reviewed document is available for download here: https://hicl.org. Review by Toni Männistö (CBRA)
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Full review: The article concludes that law enforcement agencies generally recognise supply chain security training as a worthwhile investment for their organisations. In partuclar, the law enforcement agencies call for new supply chain related training material especially regarding narcotics and drug precursor trafficking, corruption financial crimes and tax evasion, trafficking in human beings, trafficking in counterfeit goods, terrorism and cybercrime. They advocate increasing use of modern training techniques and tools, such as e-learning, case-based teaching, and role-playing exercises.
Other findings show that law enforcement agencies consider it very useful to develop new training and educational material that would help them to enable and encourage multi-agency collaboration, for example data sharing between police agencies and customs. The survey respondents also expressed their interest in new training material that would focus on human factors of transnational crime (e.g., motives and underlying social dynamics) and intelligence-led policing.
It is important to notice that only 16 people responded to the Baku pilot survey. The response rate was 23.2%, given there were 69 delegates registered for the LEA TrainNet meeting. The relatively low number of respondents and the relatively low response rate indicate that there is a definite need for a larger EU-wide follow-up survey.
Reference: Hintsa, J., Ahokas, J., Gallagher, R., and Männistö, T., (2015), ”Supply Chain Security: Survey on Law Enforcement Agencies’ Training Needs”, Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), September 24-25, 2015, Hamburg.
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Summary: Thailand is interested in coordinated border management conceptualization and implementation like many other countries. There are, however, some special challenges that Thailand faces when the country tries to strengthen cooperation with its neighbouring countries. The reviewed document is available for download at: Collaborative Border Management in Thailand and Neighboring Countries: Needs, Challenges and Issues.
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Full review: The report proposes a set of recommendations for implementing coordinated border management:
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Summary: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reports that more than 95% of commercial goods in the Mesoamerican region are transported overland using the Pacific Corridor. This traffic represents approximately 6 billion USD worth of goods on a highway which runs from Puebla, Mexico to Panama and crosses six national borders. The problem with the Pacific Corridor is with unreliable, inefficient and substandard infrastructure. In 2008, to upgrade the inadequate infrastructure, the IDB launched a ambitious project called International Goods in Transit. According to the report, the results of the project were outstanding: average time to cross a border was reduced from 62 minutes to eight. The project also succeeded to reduce the number of documents that traders needed to submit to border control agencies. The two reviewed files are available for download at: Interoperability at the Border: Coordinated Border Management Best Practices & Case Studies and Automating the Control of Goods in International Transit: Implementing the TIM in Central America.
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Full review: The solution, that the International Goods in Transit project produced, is basically an electronic system for managing and controlling the movement of goods in transit. The system builds on three main pillars that unlock better services at border crossing:
Important lessons learned from the project include the following:
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Summary: An Integrated Border Management (IBM) Strategy was written in Croatia in accordance with the guidelines of the European Union and in collaboration with international experts. This strategy and its implementation action plan was adopted by the Croatian government on the 21 April 2005. The reviewed document is available for download at: Strategy for Integrated Border Management (Croatia).
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Full review: The main objective of the Integrated Border Management (IBM) Strategy is to provide effective support for economic development of the country and to raise the standard of living of citizens. The strategy also seeks to protect life and health of people and their property from cross-border crime. Integrated Border Management requires participation of many government agencies, including border police, customs, border veterinary service, border phytosanitary service, border sanitary service and the state inspectorate. Many times also state authorities in charge of culture, mining and radiation protection contribute to the IBM Strategy formulation and implementation.
As part of the Strategy, the Croatian government created a new interdepartmental working group. The primary objective was to facilitate cross-border traffic through reduction overlapping border control activities. The working group eliminated duplicate processes by aligning responsibilities of border control agencies and by exploiting the time of the relevant synergies between relevant governmental bodies. The working group launched initiatives in following areas:
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Summary: The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has a dual mandate (1) to facilitate cross-border movements of cargo and people and (2) to protect security and safety of the Canadian people. The agency seeks to provide integrated border services, by closely cooperating with other Canadian border control agencies as well as with foreign customs administrations. The reviewed document is available for download here: Customs Cooperation Case Study for Canada.
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Full review: Forms of cooperation depend on needs of the partner agencies, but the cooperation typically includes:
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Summary: This document contains two annexes. Annex 1 covers the Customs 2020 Work Programme for 2015. It describes the activities and the budget breakdown for the year 2015 for pursuing the objectives laid down in Regulation 1294/2013 that establishes an action programme for customs in the European Union between 2014 and 2020. Annex 2 covers Fiscalis 2020 Work Programme for 2015. It covers the action plans and the budget breakdown for 2015 in relation to Regulation 1286/2013 establishing an action programme to improve the operation of taxation systems in the European Union for the period 2014-2020. The activities and financial coverage are based on three main items-action grants, procurement and other actions. The document is available for download at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/tax_cooperation/fiscalis_programme/legal_texts_docs/awp_2015_en.pdf (accessed on 12.3.2016)
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Full review: The overall objective of the Customs 2020 programme is to facilitate the functioning and modernisation of the customs union in order to strengthen the internal market by means of cooperation between participating countries, their customs authorities and their officials. It is designed to support the shaping and implementation of the UCC (Union Customs Code).
The overarching objective of Fiscalis 2020 programme is to support the fight against tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning and the implementation of Union law in the field of taxation. The Fiscalis 2020 programme is a tool, which supports and implements the overall tax policy at the European Union level.
In the Customs 2020 programme, action grants cover grants for joint actions, grant for expert team on new Import Control System (ICS) and grant for expert team on Automated Export System / New Computerised Transit System (AES/NCTS). The Joint Actions grants will fund activities related to the implementation of Union law and policy in the field of customs; improving the European Information Systems for customs, the adoption of best working practices, enhancing the expertise of customs officials, and improving cooperation between relevant organizations both on the EU and international levels. The grant for the expert teams on ICS and AES/NCTS will help achieve the objectives of the year. These objectives include the implementation of the UCC and the required Customs Information Systems in particular, and imposing a tight schedule in terms of IT systems implementation until 2020.
Under Fiscalis 2020 programme, the action grants only cover joint actions that will fund activities related to improving the European Information Systems for taxation, the administrative cooperation, the competence of tax officials, the implementation of Union law in the field of taxation, and for streamlining administrative procedures.
Procurement activities for both the programmes cover IT Capacity Building Actions and Joint and Competency Building Actions. The contracts for public procurement related to IT Capacity building concern the development, maintenance, operation, and quality control of Union components of the existing and new European Information Systems. Procurement activities related to Customs 2020 aim at interconnecting customs authorities, whereas as those associated with Fiscalis 2020 aim at interconnecting taxation administrations. The Joint and Competency Building procurement contracts concern the development, maintenance, support and dissemination of common customs (for Customs 2020) or taxation training (Fiscalis 2020); online collaboration services; staff performance building services; scientific studies, and communication support.
Other expenditures include the funding of external experts who may be invited to contribute to selected activities for achieving the overarching objectives of the two programmes.
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Summary: The GAO report discusses the progress the Customs and Border Protection (CPB), a component agency of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has made since 2015 with its flagship business-private supply chain security program Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). The report focuses on three main areas of the C-TPAT’s management and governance: (1) awarding benefits for the C-TPAT compliant companies, (2) validating the member companies’ security compliance and (3) addressing CBP’s staffing challenges that the increasing popularity of the C-TPAT program brings. The report recommends CPB to improve its C-TPAT validation processes and instruments and to establish performance criteria for assessing the program’s impact on supply chain security and trade facilitation. The C-TPAT program and this GAO report contain useful information for the CORE’s demonstrations that import goods into the US. Also the CORE’s risk cluster can learn about opportunities and challenges a voluntary, risk-based supply chain security entails. The report is available at http://www.gao.gov/assets/280/274773.pdf.
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Full review: This report contains information that is particularly useful for two CORE demonstrators that cover US imports. The first WP9 demonstration is about shipping automobile parts from the EU to the US via the port of Bremerhaven. In this demo, the General Motors (GM) is the importer. Because GM holds a C-TPAT certificate, most of the information this report offers about the status and challenges of the C-TPAT program must be of interest for the company and for its CORE demonstration. The same applies to the WP14 demonstration “FALACUS” that is about importing ceramic tiles from Italy to the US via the Port of La Spezia. The demonstration has to deal with the C-TPAT program, and therefore the demo partners’ might benefit from studying this GAO report. In addition to the demonstrations, this report might support the work of the CORE’s risk cluster because the document discusses in detail challenges and possibilities of a voluntary, risk-based supply chain security program, which builds on business-government collaboration.
Cross-references:
Supply Chain Security: Examinations of High-Risk Cargo at Foreign Seaports Have Increased, but Improved Data Collection and Performance Measures Are Needed. GAO-08-187. Washington, D.C.: January 25, 2008.
Maritime Security: The SAFE Port Act and Efforts to Secure Our Nation’s Seaports. GAO-08-86T. Washington, D.C.: October 4, 2007.
Maritime Security: Observations on Selected Aspects of the SAFE Port Act. GAO-07-754T. Washington, D.C.: April 26, 2007.
Combating Nuclear Smuggling: Additional Actions Needed to Ensure Adequate Testing of Next Generation Radiation Detection Equipment. GAO-07-1247T. Washington, D.C.: September 18, 2007.
Cargo Container Inspections: Preliminary Observations on the Status of Efforts to Improve the Automated Targeting System. GAO-06-591T. Washington, D.C.: March 30, 2006.
Additional keywords: Border security, customs-trade partnership against terrorism (C-TPAT), supply chain security, counter-terrorism
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Summary: This report reviews the progress that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has made with the Container Security Initiative (CSI) – a program for screening US-bound high-risk shipping containers in foreign ports with X-ray and radiation detection solutions – since the latest 2005 GAO review. The report discusses how the CBP’s CSI efforts have (1) contributed to the long-term, strategic planning on the US supply chain security, (2) strengthened CSI activities worldwide and (3) established means to evaluate performance of the CSI activities. The report recommends CBP to develop its data collection practices that are related to the CSI team performance and the host government’s inspections of the US-bound containers. This report provides relevant information for CORE demonstrations that deal with US-bound maritime logistics and commerce. Also the risk cluster might benefit from the descriptions of the US risk-based supply chain security scheme – Automated Targeting System (AST), 24-hour rule and the importer security filing 10+2 – that the report elaborates in detail. The report is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08187.pdf.
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Full review: This GAO report elaborates the status and challenges of the US Container Security Initiative, but it also provides a comprehensive outlook on the US maritime supply chain security. This information is likely to be relevant for the CORE’s demonstrations (WP9 and WP14) that deal with US-bound container traffic. The report is a good reference document for those CORE work packages that seek to describe the state-of-the-art of the global supply chain and that are producing relevant training material on supply chain security. The CORE’s risk and IT clusters benefit from the information the report offers on risk-based security solutions that use advance cargo information to calculate risk scores for US-bound shipments by the aid of automatic risk assessment algorithms.
Cross-references:
Additional keywords: Container Security Initiative (CSI), counter-terrorism, homeland security, maritime supply chain security
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Summary: This report discusses how the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has (1) contributed to international supply chain security standards and (2) promoted mutual recognition in the customs security area and (3) how the agency expects to implement the 100% scanning requirement of the containerized US-bound maritime cargo. The report provides a detailed outlook on the US customs supply chain security scheme, and it highlights challenges and problems that the US government faces in promoting its supply chain security strategy internationally. The development and the implementation of the World Customs Organization’s (WCO) SAFE Framework of Standards, a suite of best practices on customs security, is a central theme throughout this GAO report. Because of its broad scope, the customs-related supply chain security, this document contains information that is likely to be useful for all CORE work packages, and especially for those that involve customs administrations. The report is available at http://www.gao.gov/assets/280/279730.pdf.
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Full review: This document provides a detailed outlook on customs-centric supply chain security from the US government’s perspective. This unique view on the customs security is going to be useful for the CORE’s early work packages that seek to describe the state-of-the-art of the global supply chain security. The information is also useful for the CORE demonstrations, in which customs administrations are involved. In particular, the demonstrations (WP9 and WP14) that are about US-bound trade and logistics benefit from the detailed description of the customs security initiatives that the US government has introduced since the 9/11 tragedy.
Cross-references:
Additional keywords: Mutual recognition, regulatory harmonization, 100% scanning legislation, SAFE framework of standards, World Customs Organizations, Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) programs, Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism
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