Rep. Hunter proposes X-ray inspections for all cargo

Rep. Hunter proposes X-ray inspections for all cargo    Legislation proposed in the House Tuesday to block the sale of port facilities to Dubai Ports World and restrict foreign ownership of certain ports and other important infrastructure includes a provision to scan all cargo containers and trucks entering the United States for terrorist weapons.
   The bill was authored by Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, the powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J.
   Hunter said on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” program Tuesday that the United States has the technology to do an X-ray exam of every ocean container or truckload exiting a U.S. sea or land port.
   “We need to have a directive to port directors that they need to figure out a configuration for their port to be able to do a screening of these cargo containers as they come off the ships or come off the trucks. Either do that at the port, if they haven’t done that earlier at the country of origin, or let’s find somebody who can,” he said in a direct shot at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is responsible for inspecting cargo imports.
   CBP currently uses automated X-ray or gamma ray imaging systems to inspect about 5 percent of all containers entering the country. Some of the inspections are done at 42 overseas ports by foreign customs authorities under the guidance of U.S. Customs officers stationed there as part of the Container Security Initiative. The Department of Homeland Security uses a risk-based management approach that relies on advance shipping documents and intelligence to target shipments that score high on a computer analysis for non-intrusive imaging or, if necessary, physical inspections.
   “We could easily have one of these high-tech wand systems that will allow trucks to come through at a couple of miles an hour. So while they are doing their paperwork, we could have them X-rayed. We could do that. That’s something that a port director who is aggressive and creative could do,” Hunter said.
   “He could figure out how to get those machines in there, how to configure them so you could pull those trucks through, you wouldn’t stop commerce in the least, and that’s the one time when everybody is lined up on the same road and they are all in a row and you can bring them through like cattle coming through a chute and inspect them,” he said.
   At a hearing last Thursday, Hunter said importers should pay a fee to cover the cost of inspections.
   Hunter’s approach appears to clash with CBP’s current efforts to improve efficiency and speed up the inspection process, especially at land borders. In particular, a large effort is underway to eliminate paperwork processing by requiring truckers to electronically file their manifest prior to arrival at the border checkpoint to eliminate backups.
   Many of the backups spillover into the Mexican or Canadian side of the border, where the United States does not have jurisdiction.
   A major constraint on CBP activity is the limited dock space in congested port facilities to conduct exams. Non-intrusive exams require enough space for containers to be laid in a row, plus an additional buffer for the equipment to operate safely.
   As of last summer, CBP had deployed about 165 mobile, truck-mounted gamma ray systems since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, as well as some semi-fixed systems.
   And the fixed and mobile Vehicle and Cargo Inspection Systems in use at ports can only process about 20 containers an hour because it takes time for specialists to analyze the image.
   A new Eagle system can process about one container per minute. But it takes up a lot of space and must have containers laid out for the car-wash style machine to pass over them. Another constraint on speeding up the inspection process is that longshoremen refuse to drive trucks through stationary VACIS machines, citing health concerns about radiation exposure.
   Two terminals in Hong Kong are experimenting with a combination X-ray and radiation detection system that could scan trucks as they enter the terminal at about 15 kilometers per hour. But Hunter did not appear to be advocating this type of system.