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Important Agreement Announced to Share Scanned Container Cargo Images

S2 GLOBAL and sister company Rapiscan Systems, in collaboration with EMPORNAC of Guatemala, have announced an important relationship to share 100% of scanned container cargo images in real time with U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) in the Port of Gulfport, Miss. EMPORNAC is the governing authority of the Port of Santo Tomas de Castilla, the largest cargo container port in Guatemala. The relationship will be the first of its type in the United States and is expected to positively impact the Biloxi-Gulfport region economically and industrially.

It has the potential to enhance efficiency and security on the U.S. end. “The ability for Customs to visualize trade before it’s loaded on ships and before it heads to the Port of Gulfport allows them to make decisions way in advance, which will speed processing,” said Jonathan Fleming, president of S2 Global. “Increasing efficiency in a port drives the economy locally.”

Port of Gulfport CEO Jonathan Daniels said that step is beginning right here in Gulfport. “Now the opportunity to be able to clear these containers on a foreign shore, put them on the vessel, allow them the opportunity to arrive at the Port of Gulfport in the United States, immediately put them on the chassis and dispatch them through the port, is extremely efficient,” Daniels said.

The arrangement is one that potentially could be duplicated at other U.S. ports of entry to make their security relationships with foreign ports more efficient, according to Bobby Watt, director of US CBP’s Non-Intrusive Inspection Division. The agreement was announced in conjunction with the Rapiscan Classic golf tournament in Biloxi, Miss.

Pictured, left to right: Ajay Mehra, Rapiscan Systems; Cesar A. Meza Archila, EMPORNAC; Bayron Alejandro Monterrosa, EMPORNAC; Bobby Watt, Customs and Border Protection; Jonathan Daniels, Port of Gulfport; Jonathan Fleming, S2 Global