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GAO: Improve quality of inspection processes for high-risk cargo

The Government Accountability Office warned in a recent report that while examinations of high-risk cargo at foreign seaports has increased, improved data collection and performance measures are needed. GAO investigators found that the overseas extension of Customs and Border Protection’s Container Security Initiative to some 58 foreign seaports has had the beneficial result that 86 percent of all U.S.-bound cargo containers now pass through a CSI port. However, GAO warned that there are no consistently applied standards for the people, equipment or information collection practices being employed. It urged CBP to develop guidelines to assess the reliability of such examinations. Under the current regime, GAO reported, "CBP potentially lacks information to ensure that host government examinations can detect and identify weapons of mass destruction."

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