About CBP

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for guarding nearly 7,000 miles of land border the United States shares with Canada and Mexico and 2,000 miles of coastal waters surrounding the Florida peninsula and off the coast of Southern California. The agency also protects 95,000 miles of maritime border in partnership with the United States Coast Guard.

To secure this vast terrain, CBP's U.S. Border Patrol agents, Air and Marine agents, and CBP officers and agriculture specialists, together with the nation's largest law enforcement canine program, stand guard along America's front line. ( We are CBP! )

• CBP officers protect America's borders at official ports of entry, while Border Patrol agents prevent illegal entry into the United States of people and contraband between the ports of entry.
• CBP's Office of Air and Marine, which manages the largest law enforcement air force in the world, patrols the nation's land and sea borders to stop terrorists and drug smugglers before they enter the United States.
• CBP agriculture specialists prevent the entry of harmful plant pests and exotic foreign animal diseases and confront emerging threats in agro- and bioterrorism.

Each year, more than 11 million maritime containers arrive at our seaports. At land borders, another 11 million arrive by truck and 2.7 million by rail. We are responsible for knowing what is inside, whether it poses a risk to the American people, and ensuring that all proper revenues are collected.

Fostering legitimate and safe travel is also a key goal of CBP, which increases passenger security through effective risk assessment. The Secure Electronic Network for Rapid Inspection program, or SENTRI, and the NEXUS U.S.-Canada are trusted traveler programs that expedite entry into the United States, Advance Passenger Information System and the Rice-Chertoff Initiative have aided in accomplishing CBP's travel goals. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which is an automated system to pre-approve visitors from Visa Waiver countries; and Global Entry, a trusted traveler program for U.S. citizens, U.S. Nationals, U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents and or citizens of other participating countries.

( On a Typical Day in Fiscal Year 2009, CBP... )

Effective Targeting
CBP assess all people and cargo entering the U.S. from abroad for terrorist risk. We are able to better identify people who may pose a risk through initiatives such as: the Advance Passenger Information System, United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indication Technology (known as US-VISIT), and the Student and Exchange Visitor System. CBP regularly refuses entry to people who may pose a threat to U.S. security.

In addition, CBP uses advance information from the Automated Targeting System, Automated Export System, and the Trade Act of 2002 Advance Electronic Information Regulations to identify cargo that may pose a threat. CBP's Office of Intelligence and Operations Coordination's National Targeting Centers enhance these initiatives by synthesizing information to provide tactical targeting. Using risk management techniques, the centers identify suspicious individuals or containers before arrival.

The Automated Commercial Environment has made electronic risk management far more effective. The ACE Secure Data Portal provides a single, centralized on-line access point to connect CBP and the trade community. CBP's modernization efforts enhance border security while optimizing the ever-increasing flow of legitimate trade. ( ACE: Modernization Information Systems )

CBP also screens high-risk imported food shipments in order to prevent bio-terrorism/agro-terrorism. For the first time, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CBP personnel are working side by side at the NTC to protect the U.S. food supply by taking action, implementing provisions of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. CBP and FDA are able to react quickly to threats of bio-terrorist attacks on the U.S. food supply or to other food related emergencies.

Partnering With Other Countries
CBP has created smarter borders by extending our zone of security beyond our physical borders.

The Container Security Initiative was announced in January 2002 as a strategy to secure and protect the United States against terrorism and acts of terror involving the international maritime supply chain. CBP stations teams of U.S. officers in 58 operational foreign seaports to work together with host country counterparts to identify and inspect potentially high-risk shipments before they reach the U.S. More than 80 percent of maritime containerized cargo destined to the U.S. originates in or transits through a CSI port and is screened prior to being laden aboard a U.S.-bound vessel. ( CSI: Container Security Initiative )

CBP has implemented joint initiatives with our bordering countries, Canada and Mexico: The Smart Border Declaration and associated 30-Point Action Plan with Canada and The Smart Border Accord with Mexico. The Secure Electronic Network for Travelers' Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) allows pre-screened, low-risk travelers from Mexico to be processed in an expeditious manner through dedicated lanes. Similarly, on our northern border with Canada, we are engaging in NEXUS to identify and facilitate low-risk travelers. Along both borders, CBP has implemented the Free and Secure Trade program. The FAST program utilizes transponder technology and pre-arrival shipment information to process participating trucks as they arrive at the border, expediting trade while better securing our borders.

On April 23, 2009 CBP launched the International Expedited Travel arrangement with the government of the Netherlands and formed an arrangement called FLUX. As a result of this arrangement, U.S. Citizens approved for Global Entry may apply for and participate in Privium, the government of the Netherlands' trusted traveler program. Reciprocally, citizens of the Netherlands approved for Privium may apply for and participate in Global Entry. ( Trusted Traveler Programs )

In addition, an agreement with Canada allows CBP to target, screen, and examine rail shipments headed to the U.S. CBP has attaches in Mexico and Canada to coordinate border security issues. CBP Border Patrol agents, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies from Canada and the U.S. have joined together to form 14 Integrated Border Enforcement Teams. Covering our entire mutual border with Canada, these teams are used to target cross-border smuggling between Canada and the United States. The teams focus on criminal activity such as smuggling of drugs, humans, and contraband as well as cross-border terrorist movements.

Partnering With the Private Sector
Processing the sheer volume of trade entering the U.S. each year requires help from the private sector. The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism is a joint government-business initiative designed to strengthen overall supply chain and border security while facilitating legitimate, compliant trade. To date, more than 9,800 companies are partnering with CBP. C-TPAT is the largest, most successful government-private sector partnership to arise out of 9/11. ( C-TPAT: Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism )

In addition CBP is piloting the Advanced Trade Data Initiative. This program works with the trade community to obtain information on U.S. bound goods at the earliest possible point in the supply chain. Partnering with carriers, importers, shippers and terminal operators, we are gathering supply chain data and feeding it into our systems to validate container shipments during the supply process. This information increases CBP's existing ability to zero in on suspect movements and perform any necessary security inspections at the earliest point possible in the supply chain.

Inspection Technology and Equipment
Given the magnitude of CBP's responsibility the development and deployment of sophisticated detection technology is essential. Deployment of Non-Intrusive Inspection technology is increasing and viewed as "force multipliers" that enable CBP officers to screen or examine a larger portion of the stream of commercial traffic.

CBP does not rely on any single technology or inspection process. Instead, officers and agents use various technologies in different combinations to substantially increase the likelihood that terrorist weapons including a nuclear or radiological weapon will be detected and interdicted.

Technologies deployed to our nation's land, sea, and airports of entry include large-scale x-ray and gamma-imaging systems. CBP has deployed radiation detection technology including Personal Radiation Detectors, radiation isotope identifiers, and radiation portal monitors. CBP uses trained explosive detector dogs. CBP's Laboratories and Scientific Services Fast Response Team reacts to calls on suspicious containers. The Laboratories and Scientific Services also operates a 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year hotline at its Chemical, Biological, Radiation, and Nuclear Technical Data Assessment and Teleforensic Center.

Outbound Inspections--Keeping Weapons and Money from Falling into Terrorist Hands
CBP has the authority to search outbound, as well as in-bound shipments, and uses targeting to carry out its mission in this area. Targeting of outbound shipments and people is a multi-dimensional effort that is enhanced by inter-agency cooperation.

CBP in conjunction with the Department of State and the Bureau of the Census has put in place regulations that require submission of electronic export information on U.S. Munitions List and for technology for the Commerce Control List. This information flows via the Automated Export System. CBP is also working with the Departments of State and Defense to improve procedures on exported shipments of foreign military sales commodities. CBP also works with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to seize outbound illicit cash/monetary instruments and illegal exports of firearms/ammunition.

Protecting Border Areas Between Official Ports of Entry
Border Patrol agents and Office of Air and Marine personnel are better securing areas between the ports of entry by implementing a comprehensive border enforcement strategy, expanding, integrating, and coordinating the use of technology and communications through.

• Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System is a system that uses remotely monitored night-day camera and sensing systems to better detect, monitor, and respond to illegal crossings.

• Unmanned Aerial Systems--CBP's remotely piloted surveillance aircraft --are equipped with sophisticated on-board sensors. UASs provide long-range surveillance and are useful for monitoring remote land border areas where patrols cannot easily travel and infrastructure is difficult or impossible to build.
• Remote Video Surveillance Systems provide coverage 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week to detect illegal crossings on both the northern and southern borders.
• Geographic Information System, a CBP Border Patrol southwest border initiative to track illegal migration patterns.

( Protecting by Air, Land and Sea )