31 March 2006
U.S. Security Chief Visits Asian Ports, Seeks Cooperation
Homeland Security's Chertoff says better security also means reliance on the private sector
By Elizabeth Kelleher
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – The United States will add radiation detectors at domestic and foreign seaports in coming months and seek new foreign partners in a program that gauges the risk of a dirty bomb aboard cargo-containers, according to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
In remarks March 29 in Singapore, the secretary also urged private, international shippers to develop technology to provide the U.S. government more information about goods they ship.
Chertoff is on a trip to several Asian countries, meeting with his security counterparts. After visiting Japan and Singapore, he will tour the port of Kwai Chung in Hong Kong April 1, before he goes to Beijing.
“We can’t protect everybody against everything, at every moment, in every place,” he said in Singapore.
But Chertoff promised more radiation detectors in U.S. and overseas ports by the end of 2006. After a recent visit to the port of Oakland, California, to see detectors in operation there, he said that by the end of 2006 “we will…be putting two-thirds of containers through radiation portal monitors either overseas or in this country, and next year we will get close to 100 percent.”
A division of the Department of Energy is in negotiation with 14 countries to provide radiation-detection equipment to foreign ports and train foreign workers to use it. A typical agreement would require the United States to maintain the detectors for three years, after which the foreign country would take over.
In Singapore, Chertoff said President Bush's proposed budget includes more than $500 million for developing and deploying radiation detectors that will be “lighter, quicker, cheaper and more precise” than those currently in use. Shippers have said they do not want goods held up as they move in and out of ports.
CONTAINER SECURITY
Chertoff is encouraging use of radiation detectors and greater participation in the Container Security Initiative (CSI) while speaking to his Asian counterparts. The CSI requires a foreign port to notify the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency about containers headed for the United States 24 hours in advance and to inspect them if CBP deems them risky. Forty-two ports in 23 countries already do this, and 14 of those ports are in Asia.
Homeland Security hopes eight additional ports will join the CSI program by year-end, giving the United States the ability to assess risk of 90 percent of the containers coming to the United States. At the Hong Kong port, Chertoff will see a pilot screening program that has features beyond the CSI program.
Chertoff told members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore that he wants private companies to build databases for sharing information about cargo with the government. He also called for technology to track containers and protect them from tampering.
The industry has worried about the cost of equipping containers with “smart seals,” which would include global positioning systems and tamper-proof locks. However, Susan Monteverde of the American Association of Port Authorities, said her group’s members do support the development of international standards for such seals.
Large freight-forwarders – companies that handle logistics of global shipping for businesses that export and import goods – have high-tech systems to help their clients gain visibility of products along the supply chain, but many smaller companies are not using such systems.
“It is nice to see they are going in that direction,” said Angie Yang, a spokeswoman for a California freight forwarder called Uti Worldwide Inc. Uti Worldwide, though small in terms of its international business, has invested heavily in technology. But many companies have not, and if such tracking were to become mandatory, Yang said, “the consumer is going to pay for it.” “We say to the private sector,” Chertoff said, “if you are willing to invest in security, above and beyond what the government does, you’ll get credit for that in terms of inspection. We will speed your containers through more readily.”
H. Thomas Kornegay, president of the International Association of Ports & Harbors, said foreign ports in his organization “have always been very supportive and compliant with all regulations regarding security at ports, and they will continue to be."
PENDING LEGISLATION
In coming weeks, Congress will consider legislation that would mandate some of the things Chertoff seeks to bring about voluntarily.
For example, a House bill, called the SAFE Port Act, would authorize $821 million annually to defend U.S. ports, mandate radiation scans of all containers coming to the United States and require the U.S. government to have protocols for resuming trade if an incident occurs. Two Senate bills have also been introduced.
Congressional interest in port security increased since a firestorm over a deal that would have transferred terminal operations at several U.S. ports to United Arab Emirates-owned DP World. Congressional criticism pushed the company to announce it would divest the U.S. operations. (See related article.)
The transcript of Chertoff’s remarks in Singapore is available on the Department of Homeland Security Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
