| Related Stories • Chertoff not ready to require box security devices |
Secretary Michael Chertoff informed the House Homeland Security Committee last week that he plans to opt for mandatory bolt seals to secure containers instead of requiring the comprehensive use of electronic container security devices that can indicate in-transit tampering of the box doors by criminal or terrorist smugglers. The 9/11 Implementation Act instructed DHS to issue a rule for mechanical security seals by Oct. 15, 2008 if no electronic door sensor system standard was in place by April.
Under pressure from Congress to implement a requirement for container security device technology that it feels is unproven and of limited value without guarantees of secure packing at the point of origin, DHS has been forced to reconsider a more rudimentary security measure.
DHS officials, after two years of study, decided in the summer of 2006 not to issue a rule requiring overseas shippers to apply a high-security seal on every container, and have ocean carriers check that they were still secure at the port prior to vessel loading. Jayson Ahern, then-assistant commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, questioned whether bolt seals provided any “meaningful security.”
Officials expressed hope at the time that a technological solution would provide a less costly and more effective alternative to a manual seal process that expert criminals can easily circumvent by removing the doors of a container or other means. Policymakers suggested that they stalled on bolt seals because they expected the advent of electronic seals or related devices would replace the manual verification process. New container security device specifications issued last week require vendors to build devices that go inside the container as opposed to external seals.
The effort was also postponed because of expectations that pending legislation might mandate the use of electronic seals or internal sensors. ' Eric Kulisch
