ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Customs Service, United StatesA supervisor with the Bosnia-Herzegovina State Border Service Agency uses a fiberscope to examine the gastank of a pickup truck during the InternationalBorder Interdiction Training conducted by the U.S. Customs Service at the Hidalgo port of entry in Hidalgo, Texas. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.Libya, North Korea, Syria, and Sudan.) Of specific interestare U.S. munitions list items, and strategic dual-usetechnology.Challenges. Post-September 2001 security measures alsoinclude several programs requiring advance notice ofshipments. Through its Container Security Initiative, Customsplaces personnel at major foreign ports to prescreencargo bound for the United States. The 24-HourRuling, instituted in December, 2002, requires ocean carriersbringing goods to the United States to provide manifestinformation at least 24 hours prior to taking on cargoat the foreign port.Additionally, in January 2003, Customs proposed newrestrictions whereby it would receive four hours’ advanceelectronic notification before imports are loaded into atruck. According to a report in Transport Topics, a numberof truckers and shippers complained that this measurewould cripple business, and one industry executive predictedthat “These regulations will essentially eliminatesame-day and next-day shipping.” Similar restrictionsEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Securityimposed on deliveries by air and rail provoked protestsfrom a wide array of shipping-related companies.Disagreements with shippers may not be the onlychallenges Customs faces in its intensified mission ofhomeland security. By 2003, the service ran the danger ofbeing overtaxed, with numerous activities across a broadspectrum, including counter-narcotics programs, new bordersecurity initiatives, financial investigations, and evenchild pornography stings. Additionally, in January, 2003,Customs deployed two Blackhawk helicopters and twoCessna Citation jets equipped with sensors to conduct 24-hour-a-day patrols over the skies of Washington, D.C.,replacing military jets that had performed that role sinceSeptember, 2001.Further complicating the picture for Customs was itstransition to DHS, which would require the separation ofits border inspectors from its investigators under twodifferent branches of the new department. As of March,2003, as DHS began operations, Customs operatives facedthe problem of developing a suitable technological interfacewith the department, and with each other.297