23Rd Counter-Terrorism Task Force Meeting

23rd Counter-Terrorism Task Force Meeting

Washington, D.C., United States

3-4 March 2011

Executive Summary

The 23rd meeting of the APEC Counter-Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) was held in Washington, D.C., United States, on 3-4 March 2011.

The meeting covered a broad range of trade-related counterterrorism (CT) issues, current and proposed capacity-building activities within APEC, and collaborative measures to enhance the impact of CTTF’s future work. The discussions underscored the valuable role of APEC as an incubator of new ideas and initiatives in support of global CT efforts, as well as a platform for fostering implementation of international commitments and standards in the Asia-Pacific region.

A focal point of the meeting was a policy dialogue, which included the chairs or their designated representatives from several relevant APEC sub-fora, including the Transportation Working Group, its Maritime and Aviation Security Experts Sub-Groups, the Subcommittee on Customs Procedures, and the Business Mobility Group. The dialogue also featured guests from relevant multilateral bodies, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Customs Organization (WCO), the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), and the OAS Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism’s (OAS/CICTE). Expert speakers from the United States and Russia also participated.

The policy dialogue was the first of its kind for the CTTF and many member economies recommended institutionalizing the practice as a useful tool for facilitating coordination of CT and secure trade activities within APEC, as well as between APEC and other relevant stakeholders.

The policy dialogue helped inform the development of a Consolidated APEC Strategy on Counterterrorism and Secure Trade. The strategy, as tasked by APEC Leaders in November 2010 within their broader APEC Growth Strategy, will be developed in close coordination with relevant APEC sub-fora. The CTTF will discuss the strategy and its development further at its next meeting in May.

Discussion on the second day focused on CTTF initiatives covering a broad range of issues, including security of regional trade, travel, and finance. Within this context, the United States provided an update on its concept note for hosting the 8th Secure Trade in the APEC Region (STAR VIII) conference in September 2011 in San Francisco, pending approval of APEC funding. The conference will include public and private sector representatives.

The CTTF also reviewed the status and outcomes of Australian-led counterterrorism finance capacity-building projects, to help economies implement international FATF standards and better understand new challenges in counterterrorism finance and money laundering, and of a United States-led aviation security canine screening workshop planned for June 2011 in Canberra, Australia. CTTF also considered proposals from the United States on a workshop to address the abuse of non-profit organizations for terrorist finance, as well as for additional projects on food defence to protect economies’ food supplies from deliberate contamination. Additionally, CTTF heard informational briefings from Canada for a concept on a workshop on major event security, and from Korea on a concept for a cyber security workshop.

CTTF members revised the group’s Terms of Reference and its annual workplan. Members also agreed to examine the annual Counterterrorism Action Plan template and annual report to better assist members to identify and assess their CT and secure trade needs.

The next CTTF meeting will be held in Big Sky, Montana, USA, May 11-12, 2011.
Summary Report

The 23rd meeting of the APEC Counter-Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) was held in Washington, D.C., United States, on 3-4 March 2011. Over 47 participants from twenty-one member economies, including chairs from other APEC sub-fora, representatives from other multilateral organizations, and the APEC Secretariat attended. The meeting was chaired by CTTF Chair Anne Witkowsky of the United States.

Day 1

OPENING REMARKS AND ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS

The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming participants to the first CTTF meeting of her chairmanship and Russia as its vice-chair. The Chair discussed coordinating the implementation of APEC’s commitments on CT and secure trade; assisting economies in assessing gaps in counterterrorism and sponsoring capacity building programs to address them; and facilitating coordination within APEC and among other international fora on CT and secure trade issues.

U.S. Senior Official to APEC Kurt Tong made brief remarks on APEC 2011 priorities, and the important role of the CTTF in advancing APEC’s goals, including in the area of Secure Growth and efforts on trade facilitation and regional economic integration.

The APEC Secretariat reviewed work that CTTF had undertaken intersessionally since the last meeting in Sendai, Japan in September 2010, as well as ongoing tasks from the previous meeting. Japan gave a presentation on the updated CTTF Terms of Reference (TOR), which was revised under Japanese leadership and was endorsed by CTTF and, subsequently, by the SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE).

In regards to implementation of the Independent Assessor’s recommendations for CTTF, the Secretariat presented a progress report on actions taken to date, which was adapted from a document table generated by the previous CTTF Chair listing the Independent Assessor’s recommendations. Japan noted that short- and medium-term tasks are mostly completed. Regarding the Independent Assessor’s recommendation for the CTAP Summary Report to be posted on the APEC public website, the Chair and CTTF members clarified that the CTAP Summary was intended to be an internal document for the internal CTTF website, rather than publicly-available, given the sensitivities of the issues discussed in the report.

The Secretariat also requested that CTTF members update information for their respective points of contact.

2010 LEADERS’ AND MINISTERS’ STATEMENTS

The Chair and CTTF members reviewed the statements and outcomes from the APEC Leaders and Ministers meetings in 2010 in Yokohama, Japan. In particular, the APEC Leader’s Growth Strategy called on relevant APEC sub-fora to develop a consolidated counter-terrorism and secure trade strategy. CTTF will work to coordinate the development of the strategy, working closely with relevant sub-fora. The Chair noted that sub-fora chairs met informally the day before and, among other issues, discussed the issue of how best coordinate to take forward the development of the strategy.

As a first step, the APEC Secretariat will compile a list of cross-cutting projects that have been or are currently being undertaken by the various sub-fora in the areas of aviation security, maritime security, customs, secure travel, CT finance and cyber security into a central document. This document will help CTTF and other sub-fora analyze the wide-ranging work occurring within APEC and identify gaps and opportunities to address as APEC efforts move forward.

CTTF 2011 WORK PLAN

CTTF Members reviewed the CTTF Work Plan that was endorsed intersessionally, with the Chair explaining that it remains a flexible and living document that can be updated as appropriate. The Chair noted the highlights of the 2011 Work Plan, which include: the implementation of the CTTF Medium-Term Work Plan and of the Independent Assessor’s report, the development of a Consolidated CT/Secure Trade Strategy in coordination with relevant APEC sub-fora, the hosting of the 8th STAR Conference, and lastly, further work in specific issue areas such as counter-terrorism finance, transportation security, secure travel, supply chain security, and protecting the food supply from attack.

The Work Plan further emphasizes the need for expanded engagement with other relevant APEC sub-fora – such as the Transportation Working Group (TPTWG), the Subcommittee on Customs Procedures (SCCP), the Telecommunications and Information Work Group (TEL), and the Business Mobility Group (BMG) – as well as outside organizations to support work on counter-terrorism and secure trade issues.

Russia expressed support for the Work Plan and suggested updating it at a later date to amend the role of regional and multilateral organizations in order to avoid singling out some organizations and not mentioning others. Russia also proposed that additional CTTF activities could be consolidated into a final paragraph of the Work Plan. The Chair committed to circulate a revision to the Work Plan reflecting this proposal.

Korea stated that it was satisfied with the Work Plan, and expressed interest in eventually having its cyber security project proposal added to the document.

China underlined the need for CTTF to enhance dialog across fora, which will not only improve work inside APEC, but also help reduce redundant efforts.

Vietnam suggested that the Work Plan should also discuss maritime security projects, possibly with an emphasis on piracy. The Chair of the TPTWG’s MEG-SEC noted that piracy was generally considered by the maritime community, including the International Maritime Organization, to be a criminal activity with only a potential terrorism nexus and best addressed by law enforcement and security fora. Japan noted that the clarification was an excellent example of the value of cross-fora discussion.

CTAP SUMMARY REPORT

A draft revised template for 2011 was circulated, reflecting new commitments made during APEC ministerial meetings in 2010. The Chair expressed her view that CTTF members would approve a template intersessionally, with the goal of having all CTTF members submit their updated CTAPs by the CTTF-3 meeting in September. This would help ensure the completion of the 2011 Summary Report by December.

Canada emphasized that the CTAP template is a very useful tool for identifying capacity-building needs. In response to a question from Canada regarding what data the graphs in the Summary Report were intended to represent, the United States proposed splitting the question in the template on capacity building needs and opportunities offered to other economies. Per the discussion, the Chair reported that a revised template, reflecting the comments above, would be circulated to CTTF intersessionally.

The representative from the APEC Secretariat proposed a week-long comment period following the CTTF meeting to allow for additional input from the member economies.

The Chair concurred with Canada’s recommendation for developing the CTAP Summary Report with the help of the FOTC, who will also consider recommendations on how to improve the report. A progress report will be offered to CTTF members at the next meeting in May.

POLICY DIALOGUE

CTTF members engaged in a policy dialogue on the topic “Recent Counter Terrorism/Secure Trade Developments: Implications for APEC Activities in 2011 and Beyond.”

The dialogue featured presentations, as well as discussion among CTTF members, chairs from other relevant APEC sub-fora, and guest experts on issues including transportation security, supply chain security, secure travel, and trade facilitation. The dialogue also helped identify potential areas of cooperation across APEC and between APEC and other multilateral organizations.

Guest participants were:

• Arlene Turner – Lead Shepherd, APEC Transportation Working Group (TPTWG)
• Sean Moon – Chair, APEC TPTWG Maritime Security Experts Sub-Group (MEG-SEC)
• Peter Robertson – Chair, APEC TPTWG Aviation Security Experts Sub-Group (AEG-SEC)
• Melissa Nitsch – Representative of the Chair, APEC Subcommittee on Customs Procedures (SCCP)
• Australian Delegation – Representative of the Chair, APEC Business Mobility Group (BMG)
• Jim Marriott – International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
• Suzanne Aigner – World Customs Organization (WCO)
• Christa Brzozowski – U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Gordon Duguid – OAS Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (OAS/CICTE)
• Mike Smith – UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED)
• Russia – expert presenter

The Lead Shepherd of the TPTWG reviewed the group’s structure and offered a brief overview of its activities. The TPTWG’s work prominently features transportation-related security issues, especially in the AEG-SEC and MEG-SEC subgroups. The Land Experts Group, however, does not focus on security.

The MEG-SEC reported that the majority of its projects over the past few years have focused on assisting Member Economies with compliance through capacity building toward implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s International Ship and Port Facility Secure Code. Projects have included the Port Security Visit Program, the Drill and Exercise Program, training on and deployment of a computer software Port Security Risk Assessment Tool, and Self Assessment Trainer Workshops.

The MEG-SEC is also looking toward additional efforts. At the upcoming TPTWG meeting in June, they will consider a report providing summary lessons learned, best practices, and broad trends identified through their projects to determine, based on real-world information, what areas require additional effort to broadly enhance ISPS compliance. They also plan to discuss trade recovery concepts, especially those related to what information needs to be exchanged during periods of transportation system constraint. And, finally, they are also working toward fostering model port security legislative initiatives in order to assist Economies in create legislative regimes to codify their ISPS Code implementation.

The AEG-SEC outlined emerging themes in aviation security. In particular, developments over the past months, including the attempted bombing of an airliner in Detroit, have focused public discussion and generated new work for the TPTWG on such topics as the health and privacy implications of body scanners. Cargo security, which is an issue that cross-cuts both the TPTWG and the CTTF, has also been at the forefront of the AEG-SEC’s agenda in the wake of the Yemen cargo plot. In developing policy responses to these challenges, the AEG-SEC emphasized that APEC cannot seek out security at the expense of trade.

The SCCP summarized its activities, noting that it has two initiatives underway that might be of interest to the CTTF: the Authorized Economic Operator project, and the trade recovery program. The former involves building a partnership between industry and the public sector supply chain stakeholders, while the latter program was designed to address the threat of a sever terrorist attack on the supply chain.

The Australian delegation, on behalf of the BMG chair, presented its project on designing a border capabilities model, which it is looking to finalize. The overarching purpose of the project is to promote secure travel by mapping key points along the traveler pathway. Such a map would provide a better understanding of the APEC region’s capabilities regarding travel security, while also presenting possible opportunities for improvement to make the travel ‘supply chain’ more seamless.

The WCO discussed the growing recognition that security is a core issue for customs. The Yemen cargo incident heightened awareness about cargo security, and as a result, the WCO is now collecting advance cargo information and is reviewing the SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade. The framework, which was started in APEC SCCP before being passed to the WCO, is intended to act as a deterrent to international terrorism, secure revenue collections and promote trade facilitation worldwide. The review of the framework will touch on several issues including authorized economic operators and export control time-limits. Another significant initiative within the WCO is the development of a ‘Globally Networked Customs’ information sharing network. More generally, the WCO’s work will be focused on developing a new set of standards and rules to enhance cargo security in the years to come.

The United States reported on its efforts to develop a national strategy for supply chain security. The strategy will address how the legitimate commercial supply chain can be protected from both natural and man-made hazards. The three themes of the strategy will be security, efficiency, and resilience. In addition the strategy, which the U.S. hopes to release this Spring, will include an outreach plan outlining U.S. bilateral and multilateral interactions with such groups as ICAO, WCO, and the IMO.

ICAO presented on its activities, noting that the 2009 attempted bombing in Detroit sparked a series of regional conferences discussing improvements to aviation security. These conferences culminated in the development of an aviation security declaration focusing on issues including cargo security and information sharing. Following the adoption of the declaration, ICAO is organizing a new set of conferences to develop regional action plans. These action plans are intended to set out concrete steps that states may take to strengthen aviation security. The plans will also contribute to ICAO’s effort to keep aviation security on the public’s agenda while overcoming misinformation, such as erroneous reports about the safety of body scanners.