WEBVTT

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Ian Saunders, Director,
International Training & Assistance, CBP

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Before 9/11, a lot of countries weren't focused.

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Now that we have a new body of threats,

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how exactly do we deal with these threats?

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Robert Verrue,
Director General, European Commission

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We have to find a proper balance between

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facilitation of trade
and the fight again terrorism.

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Matt Vega, Senior Counsel, Federal Express

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We are one big global economy

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and so what happens in one part
of the supply chain will affect another.

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Brenda Smith, Director, Policy & Programs,
INATR, CBP

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In this post 9/11 world,
we really have a responsibility

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to make sure that our supply lanes
are secure for trade.

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Jose Garcia, Ministry of Finance to US, Mexico

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We see security and facilitation
as two faces of the same coin.

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Don't forget, we at Customs,
we are the gatekeepers.

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Renee Harris, CBP Attache, Mexico City

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We are unique. CBP is unique
because we are the interdictors.

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We are like no other agency.

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Lesley Ann Basset, Deputy Chief of Mission,
US Embassy, Mexico

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CBP is an essential player because they are

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sort of where the rubber meets the road.

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NARRATOR: American business and industry rely on

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a steady flow of products and materials
from all over the world.

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But the millions of cargo containers
streaming into our ports

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and across our borders each year

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also pose a grave potential threat,

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because en route to the United States,

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many of them pass through several ports
and cross several borders

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that lack adequate security,

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giving terrorists ample opportunities
to slip their own cargo,

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including weapons of mass destruction,
into the flow of legitimate trade.

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NARRATOR: It is not enough for the United States

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to secure its own borders and facilities;

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it has to be a global priority.

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This requires forming partnerships
with Customs administrations in other nations

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and with manufacturers,
vendors and importers worldwide.

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And that task belongs to CBP's Office
of International Affairs or INA.

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Brenda Brockman Smith,
Former Director, Policy & Programs Division

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As an operational agency,

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CBP is really where the rubber meets the road.

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It's important to identify strategic goals,

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but when you come right down to it,

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it's how we manage our border on a day-to-day basis.

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NARRATOR: Achieving this mission requires coordinated effort

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among operational divisions,
beginning with the Policy & Programs Division.

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Brenda Brockman Smith,
Former Director, Policy & Programs Division

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My Division is responsible
for the international cooperation

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between the United States Customs and Border Protection
and their counterparts,

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both on the Customs side and the Immigration side.

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We set the strategy and then we work very closely

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with our foreign attaches and representatives

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and our Training and Assistance Division

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to essentially identify where opportunities exist for partnership.

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We have a number of multilateral organizations
that we deal with,

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like the World Customs Organization, the APEC,

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the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
set of countries and economies.

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We work on a bilateral basis
with countries in the European Union,

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countries in Asia and Africa and Latin America,

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in order to identify again, common objectives.

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NARRATOR: The challenge is
to find common ground between

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U.S. security objectives and the economic objectives
of other countries.

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BRENDA SMITH: What we're looking to do,

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really, is to identify the best approach
to security and facilitation.

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Many times, the lifeblood
of a country depends on its trade or on its tourism.

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If we don't get trade and tourism right,
the country, as a whole fails,

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or they don't achieve their economic objectives.

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So, the approach that we take is to

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identify a mutually acceptable set of objectives

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and figure out how, from both our perspectives,

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we can get what we need to do.

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GARCIA: Our collaboration with CBP
is stronger and stronger every day.

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We're neighbors.

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We are the second largest trading partner of the United States.

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Our bilateral trade goes to 300 to 330 billion dollars a year.

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We're second only to Canada and so we have to make sure that

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all this movement of goods between our two counties
 moves in a secure manner.

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NARRATOR: Global security requires global effort, and INA

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has worked hard to establish worldwide customs standards,

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such as the Framework of Standards
to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade.

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BRENDA SMITH: The Framework of Standards is an initiative

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that we took on through the World Customs Organization

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to share best practices and identify opportunities for partnership,

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customs to customs and customs to the trade,
to improve supply chain security.

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That initiative took about three years
to develop and then propose officially,

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and then in June of 2005,
when it was formally proposed,

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we had 125 of the 169 countries sign on.

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Michel Danet,
Former Secretary General, WCO, Brussels

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Because for many people,
they felt that security was going to kill facilitation

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and that facilitation could not go on
with these new security measures.

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And the safe Framework of Standards
is exactly that synthesis.

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In fact, our idea that we want to build a chain
where there is no weak link,

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where in fact everybody will be able to trade

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and everybody will be able to
apply standards and common rules.

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BRENDA SMITH: But now comes the hard part,

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and that is working with
those individual countries to implement.

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NARRATOR: Many countries need expert assistance
to bring their customs

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and border management policies
and practices up to the standard.

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That expertise comes from INA's
Training and Assistance Division.

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IAN SAUNDERS: We're responsible for coordinating all of

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CBP's short-term and long-term technical assistance programs
all over the world,

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essentially sharing our best practices
and expertise with foreign counterparts.

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NARRATOR: INA provides assistance
only when invited to do so.

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And the first step is for the Training and Assistance Division

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to perform an assessment of the country's
customs and security operations.

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IAN SAUNDERS: Assessment is really the most

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one of the most important first pieces
of any program that we do.

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It generally combines two elements.

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One is information from the country.

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Then what sort of evaluations have they done themselves?

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What sort of visioning have they done about

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where they might want to be,
what their end goals might be?

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But that documentary information is always supplemented

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by us taking a visit to the country
to actually observe their operations,

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to get briefings from their senior managers,

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to find out what's happening day to day.

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NARRATOR: Based on the assessment,
the Training and Assistance Division

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develops a program tailored
to the country's requirements.

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Programs range from hosting
a visit by the country's customs

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or other border management officials,

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so they can observe and learn CBP best practices,

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to stationing CBP personnel overseas,

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to provide training and advice
and to help build necessary infrastructure.

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IAN SAUNDERS: We've had a very active program

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for several years with the Republic of Georgia.

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One of the major deliverables
that we've had under that program

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is the construction of a port of entry

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at a place called Red Bridge on the Georgian border.

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When we started the project with Red Bridge,

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there was essentially a very, very informal border crossing,

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very high traffic, one road,

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but very difficult to manage the flow

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and know who was going in which direction for what reason.

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We actually built a facility along the lines of

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facilities that we have in the United States.

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NARRATOR: Some countries are of special strategic importance
to U.S. security,

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and here INA's Foreign Operations Division plays a key role.

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CHARLES STALLWORTH: What we're a model for

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is the change in post 9/11 procedures as far as border security,

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for trade relations and for customs and immigration procedures.

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Those things have changed quite a bit

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and so taking those lessons that we have learned

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and offering them to our allies and to our partnering nations

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and to those manufacturers
who want their goods to come to the US,

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so that we can continue to support
what we call our extended border strategy.

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NARRATOR: The backbone of the division

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is its network of Attache and CBP Representatives

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attached to U.S. embassies in countries around the world.

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RENEE HARRIS ,CBP Attache, Mexico City

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We are able to take our operational experience,

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put it in a diplomatic setting

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and really promote CBP's programs and initiatives to the world.

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So organized crime, immigration, trade, security,

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those are the issues that we deal with.

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Those are the issues that are important.

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Narrator: Innovative programs
like CBP's Container Security Initiative,

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the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism,

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the Immigration Advisory Program

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and the Proliferation Security Initiative

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help coordinate security and trade efforts
between the two countries.

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LESLEY ANN BASSET, Deputy Chief of Mission,
US Embassy, Mexico City

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A lot of the things that we count on
every day for our fast-food,

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for our commodities, for Wal-Mart, for anything else,

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comes across through Mexico
and they make sure that gets there in time

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and that's a very important part of our economy.

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So we need free trade and we need safe trade

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and what CBP does for us is make sure
that both those things are possible.

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JIM DICKMEYER, Public Affairs Officer,
US Embassy, Mexico City

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We talk about that filter,
the filter that allows legitimate movement

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of people and goods and screens out the bad guys.

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That's a huge undertaking.

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JUAN JOSE BRAVO,
Administrator of Customs, Mexico City

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CBP has helped us in several ways.

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On one hand, on capacity building, on the people,

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on training, on using best practices on sharing information.

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They have donated some equipment for gamma rays and x-rays

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and some other equipment to help us
in checking on security, on control on trade.

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So the relationship has been very strong.

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I think we have advanced a lot in terms of security,

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in terms of control of contraband,
of fraud and money laundering.

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And some other issues that are important
for every country to control.

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JOSE SANTIAGO VASCONSELOS
Mexico Deputy Attorney General

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for International Relations
(In Spanish with English translation)

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Our largest benefit has been our
increased availability of knowledge and resources,

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the ability to coordinate our operations more effectively

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along both sides of the border.

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SCOTT Danaher, Director Of Narcotics Affairs,
US Embassy, Mexico City

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CBP has given us the technological expertise
that they bring to the game.

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They have the experience.

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What we try to do is to marry our investment with technology

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that CBP has used and tested

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because then they can help us with the training

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and the tactical schemes on how to apply those equipment correctly.

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NARRATOR: To many of our country's most important
trading and security partners,

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INA's Foreign Operations attaches are the face of CBP.

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And they have earned the respect of many foreign governments,

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especially for their work related to
immigration and enforcement.

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RENEE HARRIS: I think the effectiveness of this office
is due to several things.

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One is our ability to negotiate and develop
bi-national security programs

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such as the OASIS program
or the Border Violence Program.

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We also serve as a conduit of information and collaboration.

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This information is sometimes instantaneous,

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which it helps to mitigate security threats,
risks to both of our governments.

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We've established a rapport,
relationships with the government of Mexico,

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I think unparalleled in past history.

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NARRATOR: Much of INA's work
involves government-to-government partnerships.

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But in fact, manufacturers, shippers,
vendors, and importers

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all play a far larger role
in international trade than governments do,

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and enlisting the business community's cooperation

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is essential to securing any supply chain.

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VERRUE: We want to be a hundred percent sure that

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what we're doing is compatible with business facilitation.

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We must have by our side the business community.

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Otherwise, there is a risk of constructing solutions,

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which might be very effective from a municipal perspective,

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but almost impossible to implement from a business perspective.

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NARRATOR: All INA divisions work
in various ways with the private sector.

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Engaging the private sector is a prime objective.

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MATT VEGA,
Senior Counsel, Federal Express Corporation

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We believe in the globalization of the CBP initiatives.

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So one of the things that we want to help CBP accomplish

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is not only a worldwide standard
for security and trade facilitation,

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but also a worldwide standard of
ethics and integrity to the process

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and transparency to the process
that will ensure its success.

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FedEx operates in 218 countries,

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either directly or indirectly through a GSP,

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which we refer to as Global Service Provider.

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So you're talking about very high-value goods
being moved by air express.

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And for us, the primary benefit of the Safe Framework

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and other international standards
for trade facilitation and security

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is not only efficiency that will come by harmonization,

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but also the practical trade barriers

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that will be lowered as customs reform
and modernization is carried out.

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RENEE HARRIS: It's critical to open up
overseas offices with the CBP mission

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of interdiction, border security
because we need to assist our global partners

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in protecting their homelands
and in turn that protects our homeland.

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We need to maintain free commerce.

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We need to maintain the ability
for passengers to fly around the world

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with a high degree of safety, security.

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We need to work together with our global partners

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to minimize the risk of international travel
and increase international commerce.

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NARRATOR: The only guarantee of homeland security
lies in global security,

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and building that security requires global partnerships.

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BRENDA SMITH: We cannot increase security
and increase facilitation by ourselves.

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We have to have partnerships with the trade

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to ensure that we're not shutting down
travel or trade flows.

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We have to have partnerships
with our international colleagues.

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IAN SAUNDERS: The message is one of partnership

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and that the U.S. recognizes that the supply chain,
the travel chain

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has a number of locations
and a number of entities that link into those networks.

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And we all need to work together.

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We all need to have the same motivation,
to eliminate threats from that system.

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NARRATOR: CBP's expertise and international stature

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make it our nation's most effective agent
for promoting those partnerships.

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No other organization, public or private,
has its capabilities,

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experience, or technical know-how
or its record of achievement.

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But more remains to be done.

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IAN SAUNDERS: I think there's more for us to do, certainly.

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We've been fortunate enough in more recent years

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to see more opportunities to do
long-term engagements with countries,

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so that we're imparting skills,
we're building relationships

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so that we're getting more candid information from people.

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We're getting to the root of problems,

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not necessarily just their visible symptoms.

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But a lot of that comes over time, with relationships

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and with the ability to continually engage,
which takes funding.

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NARRATOR: Global partnerships. Global security.

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Essential investments for America's future.