For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
Barcelona, Spain—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today visited Barcelona, Spain, to tour Container Security Initiative (CSI) operations and meet with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel at the Barcelona seaport to view firsthand CBP's close working partnerships with Spanish customs officials to efficiently protect high-risk U.S.-bound cargo against terrorist threats.
"The international threat of terrorism requires global action, collaboration and innovation to ensure our mutual security and defend against terrorists," said Secretary Napolitano. "CSI plays a critical role in DHS' ongoing efforts to protect against terrorists who seek to bring harmful devices and materials into the United States through the global supply chain."
During the tour, Secretary Napolitano observed the state-of-the art automated targeting tools utilized by CBP and Spanish customs officials working side-by-side to identify and prescreen high-risk containers—including non-intrusive inspection systems and radiation detection technology.
Since 2006, CBP officials have worked closely with their Spanish counterparts at the Barcelona seaport—the third most active port in the Spanish Mediterranean—to establish security criteria for identifying and screening high-risk containers before they are shipped to the United States.
CSI teams currently operate at a total of 58 ports in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin and Central America—covering approximately 80 percent of all maritime containerized cargo imported into the United States.
Yesterday, Secretary Napolitano participated in the U.S.-European Union Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Troika meeting in Madrid—where she discussed international cooperation to protect against terrorism and transnational crime with her European counterparts.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
###