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In July 2007, U.S. legislators passed a law requiring 100% scanning of U.S. bound containers at their last foreign ports by the year 2012. That federal require- ment nearly died a quick death recently but has received a reprieve of sorts. Originally scheduled to take effect July 1, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in May of 2012 notiÞ ed Congress that she would use her authority under the 2007 law to delay implementation by two years. Napoli- tano said systems available to scan containers would result in a negative impact on trade capacity and the ß ow of cargo, and that some foreign ports do not have the physical characteris- tics needed to install such systems. If the last part was true then, however, it may not necessarily be the case now. As reported in our 1Q 2012 edition of MarPro, pilot ef-forts were established at several foreign ports under the Se- cure Freight Initiative (SFI) targeting in-bound containers for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) prior to loading. Objec-tions by trading partners surfaced and were conÞ rmed by the Government Accounting OfÞ ce (GAO). In her testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in part, ÒDHS has learned a great deal from these pilots, but it has also encountered a number of steep challenges. Some of these issues relate to the limits on current technology. Technology doesnÕt exist right now to effectively and auto- matically detect suspicious anomalies and cargo. This makes scanning difÞ cult and time-consuming. ÉTherefore, DHS is compelled to seek the time extensions authorized by law with respect to the scanning provision.Ó At the time DHSÕs Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) had already spent nearly $10 million on efforts to develop a container security device; to no avail. 100% Container Scanning It is Possible By Joseph Keefe New technology, already in use by a major terminal operator, puts the requirement for 100% scanning of all inbound containers back on track. The breakthrough, however, represents so much more than that. 100% Container Scanning It is Possible PORT SECURITY 34 Maritime Professional 1Q 2013MP #1 34-49.indd 34MP #1 34-49.indd 342/22/2013 11:14:31 AM2/22/2013 11:14:31 AM
