The Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) is a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program and part of the SAFE Port Act of 2006. It uses non-intrusive Inspection (NII) and radiation detection technology. It also gathers data to measure trade activity for risk-management and protection of United States international trade. The Secure Freight Initiative builds on the current partnership between the Container Security Initiative (CSI) and the Department of Energy’s Megaports Initiative.
The two sides of the Secure Freight Initiative are: the Container Security Initiative, also known as the International Container Security scanning project and the Importer Security Filing Program. A third pillar was to have been the Global Trade Exchange (GTX), a data acquisition program which was funded as part of the Homeland Security Budget for 2008 and 2009, but is delayed and remains under study.
The Secure Freight Initiative was kicked off in end-April 2007, with the commencement of the International Container Security project. The ICS is in pilot phases and is working to develop appropriate means to verify the safety of transport containers, using scanning technology including radiation portal monitors, non-intrusive imaging equipment, and optical character recognition systems. ICS is being implemented in foreign ports; Southampton (United Kingdom), Port Qasim (Pakistan), and Puerto Cortez (Honduras) will became the first seaports to implement the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) in October 2007. These ports began by scanning all maritime containers destined for the United States for nuclear or other radiological materials. Data from these systems is then provided to U.S. officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center for analysis.
A second leg of the SFI came to light vis-a-vis the new Importer Security Filing (ISF) program, also known as “10+2,”. The ISF, "10+2" program was put forth as a risk-management program, part of the DHS strategy to assess and identify high-risk U.S.-bound maritime transport shipments.
Famous quotes containing the words secure, freight and/or initiative:
“I do esteem individual liberty above everything. What is a nation for, but to secure the maximum of liberty to every individual? What do you think a nation is?—a big business concern?”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Man, she looked as though she’d been thrown off the crummiest freight train in the world. Yet, in spite of this, I got the impression of beauty. Not the beauty of a movie actress, mind you, or the beauty you dream about when you’re with your wife. But a natural beauty. A beauty that’s almost homely because it’s so real.”
—Martin Goldsmith, and Edgar G. Ulmer. Al Roberts (Tom Neal)
“A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–120)