ISO has teamed up the National Insurance Crime Bureau to develop a national information sharing system aimed at combating cargo theft
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The new system will leverage existing databases with additional secure reporting and analytic functions to share cargo theft information among theft victims, insurers and law enforcement.

"We have made good progress in some areas, but information sharing has remained ad hoc and fragmented at best," said Ronald Thornton, president and CEO of the Inland Marine Underwriters Association, a not-for-profit association that represents most U.S. cargo insurers. "This effort will be a major step forward in the fight against cargo theft for our members and their policyholders, who both play such a critical role in the U.S. economy."

This new coordinated data-sharing system will take into account the needs of insurers, law enforcement, transportation companies, manufacturers, retailers, and their many agents and service providers. The ISO and NICB hope the system will close the gaps in the information sharing network and get cargo crime data out faster.

In early 2010, the organizations will introduce CargoNet, the new database, which will include training and investigative support for law enforcement, as well as theft prevention services and analytics.

"This is a critical step in the plan that the industry and law enforcement mapped out in November 2006, when the National Cargo Theft Task Force recommended the development of intelligence databases and information sharing," said Joe Wehrle, president and CEO of NICB. "Working with our members and law enforcement, NICB has been making progress against cargo theft on many fronts. We have recovered stolen cargo, developed intelligence, and dissolved organized groups behind the thefts. If CargoNet were in place today, I'm sure we'd be seeing a lot more recoveries, and we'd be making thieves think twice about stealing these loads."

More info: www.iso.com or www.nicb.org