A new non-profit business organisation, recently launched in Brussels, will develop international standards for intermodal freight container security to counter the threat to the circa €7 trillion international trade in goods, from terrorism and organised crime, including smuggling and theft.
The International Container Security Organisation (ICSO), which will develop and publish global standards for container security devices (CSDs) and related systems, has been founded by leading businesses from across the globe including General Electric Company, GreenLine Systems, JPMorgan Chase, Mitsubishi Corporation, Siemens AG, and Unisys Corporation, that every year ship billions of Euros of products and commodities around the world. These member companies share the objective of rapidly improving in-transit container security by quickly defining global standards to help protect international commerce.
Dr Christoph Seidelmann, the Vice-President of the Bureau International des Containers (BIC) in Paris, and new President of ICSO, said, "The ICSO team will begin today to develop and deliver standards contributing to a secure transport system. Just as standards contributed to make today's freight container transport system efficient, safe, and successful; so will standards for new and emerging technologies contribute to the security of containers and goods in-transit."
Speaking at the event, Thomas Frischmuth, Head of Siemens One added, "All too often international standards lag far behind the availability and use of new technologies they are designed to regulate. It is not uncommon for standards for one generation of technology to be developed just when a new generation is entering the market. ICSO is an organisation that will be ahead of the game and develop standards that support international trade."
ICSO will use the experience and knowledge of its members to develop timely solutions to today's most pressing security challenges. It follows the precedent of other business consortiums that press ahead with self-regulated efforts in order to rapidly deploy technologies for practical and interoperable use, such as Bluetooth, wireless telephones, Memory Stick, and Wi-Fi.
ICSO will develop and recommend standards for notifying Customs, other appropriate authorities, and authorised business personnel when shipments and containers are compromised during transit, as well as standards for cost effective devices that detect and report in-transit container intrusions and other irregularities. 
ICSO will also specify standards for future enhancements to CSD technologies, such as add-on sensor capabilities. It will also detail how the CSD systems will store data, transfer information between authorised parties, and ensure security and privacy of business data.
