• Contribute to a more secure and efficient flow of goods across borders and through national entry points in the OAS member states.
• Strengthen national capacities to address security threats that exploit vulnerabilities in the supply chain and porous borders in the Americas and the Caribbean.
• Provide customs and border control officials and interested parties with the knowledge and skills to more effectively combat the illicit trafficking of drugs, weapons, people and other forms of illicit trafficking. These trainings include security and inspection techniques for containerized goods and the infrastructure of the ships that transport them.
• Increase national and international cooperation, communication and coordination among customs and border control officials, government agencies and other relevant actors.

The Cargo and Container Security program, with the support of its strategic partners, carries out technical analysis visits in the participating countries, in order to determine needs and opportunities for collaboration. Once identified, the program develops proposals to optimize security procedures and inspection techniques, and, if necessary, provide technical assistance in the form of comprehensive training courses on customs controls related to the inspection of cargo ships and containers. These two are the means with the greatest incidence in the illicit traffic across the borders of the region.

The workshops are conducted nationwide throughout the region and employ numerous experts who work in a variety of aspects of law enforcement and customs, including:

In addition, by bringing together officials who work in all aspects of border control, these courses seek to strengthen institutional and professional relationships among all the key authorities involved.

The program is intended for officers capable of strengthening in-house training capacities in a sustainable manner and first-line officers in charge of selecting and inspecting containers and boats on a daily basis.

The program has carried out activities in the following countries: Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Belize, Guatemala, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago.