A Senate bill introduced Tuesday seeks to eliminate a 2012 deadline for 100 percent scanning of all United States-bound oceanborne cargo containers.
The bill, named the SAFE Port Reauthorization Act of 2010, seeks to replace the 100 percent scanning requirement enacted in 2007 with a "more reasonable" risk assessment method until container scanning technology is more developed.
The bill would require that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security designate such a risk assessment method as effective.
DHS now utilizes a threat matrix risk assessment method to evaluate containers arriving at most U.S. ports.
The 2007 law which set the 2012 deadline called for all U.S.-bound cargo containers to be x-rayed and scanned for radioactive contents.
Some ports, such as those in Long Beach and Los Angeles, do scan all containers leaving marine facilities with radiation portal monitors but x-ray scanning technology has yet to develop to the point that it can keep up with the volume of containers moving through a modern port.
The 100 percent scanning requirement has been blasted by many facets of the shipping industry as both too costly and technically infeasible with current technology.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
