OIG Says CBP Not Doing Enough to Mitigate Threats

DHS Office of Inspector General says U.S. Customs and Border Protection has taken steps to mitigate the threat of nuclear and radiological weapons in maritime cargo containers, but could do more. CBP officials say new devices are currently being developed and tested that could help.

The new report addresses the strengths and weaknesses of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s capability to target and detect biological and chemical threats in maritime cargo containers. It is based on interviews with employees and officials of relevant agencies and institutions, direct observations, and a review of applicable documents.

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General was established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) by amendment to the Inspector General Act of 1978. This was one of a series of audit, inspection, and special reports prepared as part of our oversight responsibilities to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness within the department. The partially redacted document said that, “Customs and Border Protection officials had 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.”

The report, while also recommending that a formal risk assessment be carried out to make certain that Customs and Border Protection was assigning its detection resources to those points of entry that offer the greatest threat to national security, also acknowledged that Customs and Border Protection “has taken steps to mitigate the threat of nuclear and radiological weapons in maritime cargo containers.”

• DHS OIG Executive Summary

Section 809(g) of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-293) requires the Office of Inspector General to submit an annual report on its evaluation of the current cargo inspection targeting system for international intermodal cargo containers. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for operation of the targeting system and conducting cargo container examinations. This review addresses the tools, information, and guidance that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers use to examine high-risk containers that potentially contain biological and chemical weapons.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 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. Customs and Border Protection 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, Customs and Border Protection 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 Customs and Border Protection allocates its detection technology development resources to threat pathways that pose the highest risk to national security.

In addition, Customs and Border Protection needs updated policies and procedures on how inspections for such threats are to be conducted. Currently, Operating procedures do not require that nor do they describe conduct the inspections. Without updated policies to focus cargo inspections, biological and chemical threats may go undetected.

Customs and Border Protection concurred with our recommendations to complete a risk assessment and update its policies and procedures for inspecting cargo containers for biological and chemical threats.