OPERATION SAFE COMMERCE COMPLETES FIRST TEST

OPERATION SAFE COMMERCE COMPLETES FIRST TEST

   Operation Safe Commerce (OSC), a public-private partnership aimed at tighter cargo container safety in the supply chain, has successfully completed its first test run.

   A container loaded with 400,000 tail lamps arrived by truck in Hillsborough, N.H., on June 7, completing the test. The shipment left an Osram-Sylvania plant May 22 in Nove Zamky, Slovakia, and was trucked across the border into the Czech Republic, and onto the port of Hamburg, Germany. From Hamburg, it was transported via ocean container to the Port of Montreal, where it arrived June 3 and was eventually trucked to Hillsborough.

   Throughout the entire process, OSC participants reviewed the cargo’s entire route through the use of a global positioning system transceiver and data logger and intrusion detection device.

   In OSC, point-of-origin security, in-transit transparency and data query capabilities allow the movement of legitimate containerized cargo, while preventing terrorists from inserting weapons of mass destruction into the supply chain.

   “The technology demonstration provided valuable insight into the effectiveness and feasibility of utilizing container tracking and sensing technologies,” said the office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Hampshire.

   OSC said it will meet to finalize plans for the program's second phase, which may involve different private sector partners and additional supply chains.