Press Releases

Republic of Korea to Join U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative

January 16, 2003

On Friday, January 17, U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner and Commissioner of the Customs Service of the Republic of Korea Yong-Sup Lee will announce that the Republic of Korea has agreed to participate in the U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative (CSI). The signing ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Friday, January 17 on the 10th floor of the Seoul Customs Service in Nonhyon-dong, Seoul. Commissioner Lee, Deputy U.S. Customs Commissioner Douglas M. Browning, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard, and American Chamber of Commerce Chairman William Oberlin will attend the event.

The press is invited to attend the event, which will be followed by a press conference. Please be at the Seoul Customs Service building by 1:45 p.m. with your press IDs.

CSI is a U.S. Customs initiative designed to prevent the smuggling of terrorists or terrorist weapons in ocean-going cargo containers. Under the terms of the declaration announced today, U.S. Customs officers will be stationed at the port of Pusan.

The CSI initiative supports the "Cooperative G8 Action on Transport Security" adopted by the G8 in June 2002.

Launched by U.S. Customs in January 2002, CSI consists of four core elements. These include: (1) using automated information to identify and target high-risk containers; (2) pre-screening containers identified as high-risk before they arrive at U.S. ports; (3) using detection technology to quickly pre-screen high-risk containers; and (4) using smarter, tamper-proof containers.

The initial objective is to implement CSI at the ports that send large volumes of cargo containers into the United States in a way that will facilitate detection of potential security concerns at the earliest possible opportunity.

One element of CSI involves placing U.S. Customs inspectors at foreign seaports to target and pre-screen U.S.-bound cargo containers before they are shipped to America.

Globally, over 48 million full cargo containers move between major seaports each year. Each year, more than 16 million containers arrive in the United States by ship, truck, and rail.