For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
THE NETHERLANDS—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today visited the Netherlands to meet with her international counterparts to discuss strengthening collaboration to secure the global supply chain and tour operations at Schiphol Airport and the Port of Rotterdam, and meet Dutch officials in The Hague as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety, security and resilience of our international transportation systems.
“Securing the global supply chain is vital to protecting both the lives of people around the world, and the stability of the global economy,” said Secretary Napolitano. “We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Netherlands to enhance the security of the global supply chain and our international transportation systems.”
At Schiphol Airport, Secretary Napolitano joined Dutch National Counterterrorism Coordinator Erik Akerboom to tour cargo facilities at Schiphol Airport and highlight the Netherlands’ ongoing efforts to leverage the combined resources of the private and public sectors to develop integrated solutions to enhance global supply chain security.
Secretary Napolitano also met in the Hague with State Secretary and Acting Minister of Security and Justice Fredrik Teeven to underscore the shared commitment of both nations to ensure the resilience of the global supply chain and applaud the Netherlands’ continued participation in Program Global Shield—launched by DHS, the WCO, INTERPOL, and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime in 2010 as an unprecedented multilateral law enforcement effort aimed at combating the illicit cross-border diversion and trafficking of precursor chemicals for making improvised explosive devices by monitoring their cross-border movements.
Secretary Napolitano then traveled to the Port of Rotterdam—the largest seaport in Europe and the fourth largest port in the world—to tour cargo security operations and meet with customs officials and Coast Guard personnel. In September 2002, the Port of Rotterdam became the first location for the Container Security Initiative (CSI), a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program at more than 50 overseas ports to prescreen and evaluate high-risk containers before they are shipped to the United States.
Port of Rotterdam also serves as the U.S. Coast Guard Activities Europe base, and Secretary Napolitano met with Coast Guard personnel to discuss their efforts to coordinate initiatives to maximize the safety and security of the U.S. marine transportation system with operations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Yesterday, Secretary Napolitano met with International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos in London to discuss U.S.-supported efforts underway at the IMO to make international maritime standards more consistent and to enable ports to recover quickly from disasters and disruptions. Later this week, she will visit Brussels to meet with international counterparts to discuss global collaboration to ensure the security and resilience of the global supply chain against terrorism and transnational crime, and deliver remarks at the World Customs Organization.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
###