Enhancing container security - How the OSCE engages with international partners on counter terrorism

The global container transport system is a critical component of the infrastructure supporting the world economy. More than 90 per cent of global freight moves by containers, with more than 400 million shipments annually.

Containers go by sea, air and land, and a multitude of public and private actors are involved in their handling and movement across borders and jurisdictions. Containers can be easy to tamper with in the course of their journeys and are therefore vulnerable to criminal abuses such as cargo theft and various forms of trafficking. With the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States, governments around the world became increasingly concerned over possible targeting or misuse of the container transport system by terrorists, for instance to deliver a weapon of mass destruction. This mobilized the international community to better secure the system.

Several countries launched national programmes with the dual goal of securing container transport and at the same time making it more efficient, the United States taking the lead with its Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism. Specialized global organizations, such as the World Customs Organization (WCO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization began addressing the issue and developed international standards on their pieces of the container transport security puzzle.

The OSCE, for its part, rallied to build political will in support of these initiatives. Participating States mandated the Secretariat to promote the exchange of information and best practices on container security, and to lend support to efforts in this field by international organizations.

In 2005, the OSCE became one of the first organizations to endorse the WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE). Truly global in scope, with the customs administration members of the WCO processing more than 98 per cent of world trade, the SAFE Framework sets standards for advance electronic cargo information, risk management, non-intrusive container inspection and possible benefits for complying businesses.  

The OSCE as a transmission belt

The OSCE role in promoting container security is typical of how a regional organization can add value to global counter terrorism efforts. “This may be best described by the concept of a ‘transmission belt’ between the global and national levels,” explains Raphael Perl, head of the Secretariat’s Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU). “Regional organizations can help channel downwards objectives, approaches and measures agreed upon at the global level. They can serve as a multiplying force by supporting the outreach and capacity building activities of specialized global organizations within their respective region,” says Perl.

The ATU’s close collaboration with the WCO in support of the SAFE Framework is a case in point. “The SAFE Framework is the key instrument today to enhance the security and facilitation of the global supply chain. Its implementation is essential to driving the modernization of customs administrations so that they can meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century”, says Vitali Mikeladze, Regional Development Manager for Europe at the WCO Capacity Building Directorate. Under the Columbus Programme, developed by the WCO to assist and guide countries that lack the necessary resources and expertise to implement the SAFE standards, the ATU has helped to organize national SAFE workshops for five OSCE participating States. The workshops have enabled these countries to draw up strategic action plans for their implementation of the SAFE Framework. “We are now discussing whether and how the OSCE can provide assistance for specific actions under these national plans, such as providing equipment and supporting cross-border co-operation” says Mikeladze.

Regional organizations can help channel downwards objectives, approaches and measures agreed upon at the global level. They can serve as a multiplying force by supporting the outreach and capacity building activities of specialized global organizations within their respective region.

Raphael Perl

Another track followed by the ATU has been to promote the Code of Practice on Security of Ports, developed jointly by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the IMO. Marios Meletiou, Transport Specialist at the ILO, recalls how the OSCE was instrumental in avoiding a piecemeal approach. “I first engaged with the ATU at the Technical Expert Workshop on Container Security that they organized in Vienna in 2005,” he recalls. “I asked them to help promote our Code of Practice and they suggested that we expand the related training package to also cover the work of other organizations.”  A year later, in December 2006, a modified package including information on the WCO, the European Commission, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Sates government was tested at a joint OSCE/ILO training workshop in Istanbul.

The OSCE serving as a platform

The global supply chain is complex and securing it requires a comprehensive vision and a broad range of coherent actions. In 2007, participating States encouraged the OSCE to serve as a platform where international organizations and national authorities could join forces to develop an integrated approach to supply chain security. They also gave the Organization a mandate to promote co-operation between state authorities and the private sector in countering terrorism.

The ATU put this into practice for the first time by organizing the Workshop on an Integrated Approach to Supply Chain Security for the Mediterranean Region in December 2009 in Malta. In addition to experts from 17 countries, including five OSCE Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, 20 international organizations and private sector associations attended the workshop. A review of the full picture of current international, regional and key national initiatives on supply chain security stimulated reflection on the best way forward to make it as cost-effective and consistent across the different modes of transportation as possible. Building on the workshop’s success, the ATU is now offering to organize similar events for other sub-regions of the OSCE.

Looking ahead

The workshop in Malta also opened a new door for co-operation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “UNODC and the OSCE already have a strong track record of co-operation on combating organized crime, trafficking and terrorism,” says Ketil Ottersen, Senior Programme Coordinator for container security at UNODC, who contributed to the workshop in Malta. “It seems only natural to try joining forces on container security.”

Ottersen manages the Container Control Programme (CCP), a joint UNODC-WCO venture launched in 2005.

The CCP helps developing countries train law enforcement officials to identify and inspect high-risk freight containers, in order to prevent illicit trafficking.

We started the CCP with a focus on key ports in Latin America and Africa. We are now moving east and decided to engage with the OSCE. To begin with we have agreed to work together in response to an assistance request from Georgia.

Ketil Ottersen

The ATU facilitated a needs assessment visit to Georgia by a team of UNODC and WCO experts in May 2010. The team held several meetings with law enforcement agencies in Tbilisi and visited the ports of Batumi and Poti on the Black Sea. The findings of the mission now serve as a basis to define modalities for implementing the CCP in Georgia, and deciding how the OSCE can help further.

ATU co-operation with the WCO is also expanding. The ATU was recently granted observer status to the SAFE Working Group, which meets twice a year at the WCO to discuss implementation progress and possible improvements of the SAFE Framework. The ATU has also started supporting WCO workshops for the European region on key SAFE standards. In June 2010, it co-sponsored a workshop at the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Customs Academy, on the use of non-intrusive inspection technologies by customs to scan suspicious containers.

Securing container shipments to deter illicit trafficking remains a priority for the international community. Significant progress has been achieved, but there is still much work ahead. The ATU’s engagement with international partners to make sure that existing tools are used and countries receive the assistance they need to enhance container security is typical of the Unit’s approach in all its eight thematic programmes of activities.