Napolitano doesn?t embrace scan-all law

Napolitano doesnÆt embrace scan-all law

Napolitano

   Homeland Security-secretary designee Janet Napolitano has indicated during her confirmation process that her thinking on 100-percent scanning of ocean containers is closer to that of Michael Chertoff, the current secretary, than House Democrats who pushed for the law.
   The controversial law requiring all inbound ocean containers to be inspected first at foreign ports by 2012 was part of the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act in 2007. The provision passed despite vociferous opposition from industry and many foreign governments who would be tasked with implementing a U.S. law they consider a major drag on international trade.
   The Department of Homeland Security, which prefers a system of targeted inspections based on risk analysis, has said it intends to arrange for non-intrusive technology inspections on a limited number of high-risk trade lanes because logistical, technical, political, financial and legal challenges make full-scale implementation of the law unrealistic for the time being.
   In written responses submitted to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Napolitano said the 2012 deadline will be “difficult to achieve based on what we know today,” and that exercising waivers to extend the deadline “must be seriously considered.”
   The legislation provides DHS leeway in implementing the inspection by allowing it to seek two-year extensions for ports that are unable to set up systems. Opt-out clauses cover issues of equipment availability, false alarm rates, adequate port infrastructure to stage machines and cargo, disruption of trade and automatic detection capability.
   President-elect Obama’s choice to head the department said she recognized the limitations of imaging all ocean containers and plans to carefully review the cargo security situation in an effort to find a practical solution.
   “Container security is about securing global supply chains, not just securing ports. If confirmed, I plan to look closely at where we are, what is possible and useful and pledge to come back to the Congress with a clear path forward,” she said in the questionnaire.
   Napolitano said cost must be part of any consideration for expanding 100-percent inspections to all foreign ports handling U.S.-bound freight. DHS has estimated that it would cost $16.8 billion just for initial purchases of X-ray or gamma ray equipment, not including personnel costs to staff the machines, analyze images and resolve false alarms, costs associated with maintenance or delays in moving cargo through ports. The thorny question of who should pay for the security measure — U.S. government, foreign governments or the private sector — also must be resolved.
   “Whatever the Obama administration and Congress decide to do regarding container scanning must be achievable and affordable,” she said.
   At a supply chain conference at George Mason University Law School last October, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee staff said Congress is not likely to fund the cost of a global scanning regime and predicted that in the near term there won’t be a tremendous increase in 100-percent scanning overseas beyond the limited applications proposed by DHS.
   “I think it can be delayed perpetually” through use of the six exemptions in the law, he said.
   That could give more time for Container Security Initiative, a program for inspecting high-risk containers in 58 foreign ports, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism trusted shipper program and the “10+2” import data collection rule to be fully implemented and refined so that lawmakers have confidence in the risk-based system and could swap out the scan-all language in the 9/11 law, he said.
   DHS conducted a pilot program at a half-dozen foreign ports to test the feasibility of scanning all containers. The results showed that it was possible to scan all containers moving through a particular truck gate or small terminal. But the tests were conducted at ports with small volumes in which special work-arounds were put in place to overcome logistical challenges and their cost was picked up by the U.S. government. The department concluded that replicating the effort across all ports would be costly and difficult, especially in large-volume ports and transshipment ports where cargo moves quickly from ship-to-ship.
   The governor of Arizona said she would review the results of the Secure Freight Initiative pilot and work with domestic and international partners on any further rollout.
   “It appears that SFI is a valuable program and it makes sense to expand the program to strategic trade corridors as we learn how to effectively integrate scanning technology at overseas ports,” she said.
   Napolitano said she concurred with the existing strategy of pushing the borders out to stop threats before arrival at U.S. shores and managing security “without inhibiting the flow of cargo and passengers through our ports.”
   She also sided with Secretary Chertoff’s assessment that more resources need to be shifted to deal with the threat of small vessel attacks.
   Napolitano is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate shortly after Obama is sworn in as president on Jan. 20. ' Eric Kulisch