Post by bluefieldtrucker on Nov 4, 2008 23:51:08 GMT -5
DHS chief lists obstacles to 100 pc container scanning
Screening Snags
Singapore will not have container scanning in place if it reduces throughput, Hong Kong Customs does not have the authority to share electronic security data with US authorities and the Korean truckers’ union doesn’t want its members to go through container scanning machines.
These were some of the problems outlined by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief, Mr Michael Chertoff, who defended the DHS’ "targeted approach" to implementing "100 per cent container scanning" against Congressional charges of foot-dragging.
Responding to the charges from the House Homeland Security Committee Chairman, Mr Bennie Thompson (Democrat-Mississippi), Mr Chertoff said his strategy of deploying scanning on high-risk trade lanes was consistent with the law that allows extensions for ports that face special problems.
Mr Chertoff said a "high-risk trade corridor" is a shipping lane that has service to the US and includes foreign seaports that handle maritime containerised goods that either transit or originate from high-threat areas or possess potentially high-risk cargo.
"With over 700 ports shipping to the US and more than 11 million containers arriving each year, DHS must have a realistic strategy that acknowledges the importance of keeping legitimate trade flowing," Mr Chertoff said.
But there were many problems, he admitted. The Hong Kong Customs Service didn’t have the authority to share the scan images with the US government, he pointed out. Hence, the US Customs’ Container Security Initiative team stationed in the port received the data directly only from Modern Terminals, the private operator.
The DHS and Singapore agreed to end plans to test container scanning gear after it was determined that to do so would create bottlenecks that impacted legitimate trade.
"The end of the pilot project in Singapore was not due to a lack of direction from DHS, as you allege," he wrote to Mr Thompson. "Rather, it resulted from the significant challenges to scanning transhipment traffic in a very high-volume port."
In Korea, objections by the truckers’ union about the safety of driving through a high-energy imaging system had delayed implementation of the programme at the Gamman Terminal in Busan, he said.
More scanning troubles arose from tests in the Port of Southampton, he pointed out, where DHS was limited to non-intrusive inspection to the gate as technology did not yet exist to scan ship-to-ship transfers without truck transfer.
Screening Snags
Singapore will not have container scanning in place if it reduces throughput, Hong Kong Customs does not have the authority to share electronic security data with US authorities and the Korean truckers’ union doesn’t want its members to go through container scanning machines.
These were some of the problems outlined by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief, Mr Michael Chertoff, who defended the DHS’ "targeted approach" to implementing "100 per cent container scanning" against Congressional charges of foot-dragging.
Responding to the charges from the House Homeland Security Committee Chairman, Mr Bennie Thompson (Democrat-Mississippi), Mr Chertoff said his strategy of deploying scanning on high-risk trade lanes was consistent with the law that allows extensions for ports that face special problems.
Mr Chertoff said a "high-risk trade corridor" is a shipping lane that has service to the US and includes foreign seaports that handle maritime containerised goods that either transit or originate from high-threat areas or possess potentially high-risk cargo.
"With over 700 ports shipping to the US and more than 11 million containers arriving each year, DHS must have a realistic strategy that acknowledges the importance of keeping legitimate trade flowing," Mr Chertoff said.
But there were many problems, he admitted. The Hong Kong Customs Service didn’t have the authority to share the scan images with the US government, he pointed out. Hence, the US Customs’ Container Security Initiative team stationed in the port received the data directly only from Modern Terminals, the private operator.
The DHS and Singapore agreed to end plans to test container scanning gear after it was determined that to do so would create bottlenecks that impacted legitimate trade.
"The end of the pilot project in Singapore was not due to a lack of direction from DHS, as you allege," he wrote to Mr Thompson. "Rather, it resulted from the significant challenges to scanning transhipment traffic in a very high-volume port."
In Korea, objections by the truckers’ union about the safety of driving through a high-energy imaging system had delayed implementation of the programme at the Gamman Terminal in Busan, he said.
More scanning troubles arose from tests in the Port of Southampton, he pointed out, where DHS was limited to non-intrusive inspection to the gate as technology did not yet exist to scan ship-to-ship transfers without truck transfer.