Border officers relied on outdated intel to decide whether to search incoming vessels, audit warns
Border officers relied on outdated intel to decide whether to search incoming vessels, audit warns
The risk assessments border officers have used for years to decide whether vessels entering Canadian waters should be searched have been based on outdated and inaccurate data, increasing the risk of high-risk goods and inadmissible people slipping into the country, a recently released audit says.
"Due to system limitations, the [Canada Border Services Agency] may not have a complete record of all individuals entering the country via marine ports," says the audit, posted online last week.
The review examined how the CBSA's national targeting centre identified people and goods bound for Canada that might have posed a threat between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2022.
According to the audit, the national targeting centre relies on risk assessments to determine if vessels that could be used for illegal activities, such as smuggling or illegal migration, need to be flagged for examination.
Well at least Canada upgraded from an older process which was to hire Inspecteur Javert to catch criminals for us. /j
This is the best summary I could come up with:
"Due to system limitations, the [Canada Border Services Agency] may not have a complete record of all individuals entering the country via marine ports," says the audit, posted online last week.
Border officers posted to Canada's ports are also on the lookout for potential Canadian Food Inspection Agency violations, like parasitic barnacles underneath a ship, he said.
"The CBSA's marine mode targeting methodology and processes rely on legacy systems and outdated procedures to risk-assess cargo, vessels and crew," said the audit.
The audit said data from cargo shipping companies on crew members is not received in a consistent format and must be manually entered, "which increases the risk that the agency may not identify high-risk individuals and vessels."
The audit also looked at how CBSA intelligence, in addition to information gathered by domestic and foreign enforcement partners, is used to target suspect cargo and crew at ports.
Calvin Chrustie, a former RCMP superintendent who now works for a private risk management firm, said he would have liked to see the audit go harder on the need for technology to monitor Canada's marine domains, including the Arctic.
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