The following is from the 25 January 2012 edition of American Shipper.
The Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled its global supply chain security strategy on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The document is a whole-of-government approach towards balancing security and international trade that acknowledges to properly manage cross-border commerce extends beyond the Department of Homeland Security.
The objective is to have a holistic approach for preventing, mitigating and responding to supply chain disruptions from manmade causes such as terrorism or natural disasters.
The strategy identifies gaps in the roles and responsibilities of federal and state agencies, and private sector stakeholders, and recommends legislative, regulatory and organizational changes to address them. The document guides the government's interaction with the private sector and foreign governments, and how it allocates resources in the budget.
Officials originally planned to complete the strategy late last summer, but getting all the necessary approvals took longer than expected.
The White House eventually plans to issue an action plan providing guidance to all agencies on how to align their budgets and programs with the supply chain security strategy. The executive branch will then work to protect trade lanes to and from the United States while also working with international bodies such as the World Customs Organization to build international consensus for harmonizing standards and guidelines for cargo and transport security to reduce burdens for lawful shippers. — Eric Kulisch