Security and Trade Efficiency Platform

Gaps in law and enforcement, as well as physical and systemic vulnerabilities in supply chains can be exploited by bad actors for the illicit trafficking of dangerous materials, including “dual-use” items that can be used to develop weapons of mass destruction. Stimson’s Security and Trade Efficiency Platform (STEP) is a supply chain analysis and engagement program that assists partner countries in identifying dual-use goods in trade flows, and implementing security measures that also eases trade facilitation. Stimson experts engage with local public and private partners to map business processes, infrastructure, and regulations related to a given dual-use supply chain, and then offers operational and policy recommendations to strengthen security and streamline process efficiencies. Exploring the intersecting benefits of security and trade in this way can help demonstrate how global security issues such as WMD nonproliferation can have tangible positive impact on local economies.