A global IT infrastructure improving container security by data completion

Since 9/11, the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) was one of the initiatives to increase container security. The Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) is a measurement by which the European Communion (EC) requires shipping lines to submit data to the first port of call in the EC, 24 hours before a vessel leaves a port of loading. However, these methods are insufficient for proper risk analysis. Customs lacks data of the content of containers and is not always able to relate container contents to for instance import declarations, especially for LCL (Less than Container Load) containers. From a liability perspective shipping lines only give a general statement (STC: Said To Contain). This paper presents an IT infrastructure developed within the EU FP7 SEC Cassandra project to capture so-called upstream data that allows customs to match shipment data to container data. The IT infrastructure is based on existing functionality offered by various service providers and includes concepts from Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Event Driven Architecture (EDA). To allow a gradual migration of all parties, a phased approach to implementation of the IT infrastructure is proposed. If the infrastructure will be completed, only export and import declaration based on commercial documents is required; all other data can be gathered by customs and other authorities for risk analysis. It is expected that not only container and cargo security will increase, but also the administrative burden of traders will decrease. The infrastructure is currently implemented by Cassandra participants and will be validated the next year in Living Labs with traders.