Singapore signs pact with U.S. for container scanning

Singapore signs pact with U.S. for container scanning Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said it signed an agreement today under which it will participate in a trial project to scan U.S.-bound shipping containers for nuclear or radiological materials.
   Permanent Secretary for Transport Choi Shing Kwok and U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Patricia L. Herbold signed a “declaration of principles” to conduct the six-month trial under the Secure Freight Initiative.
   “Singapore is happy and committed to working with the U.S. to objectively evaluate the feasibility of conducting 100 percent scanning of containers,” Choi said. “Singapore sees this trial as adding to the knowledge and expertise necessary to develop a practical and effective supply chain security approach which all stakeholders in the supply chain can feel confident about using.”
   Singapore it is one of seven ports participating in the trial. The first port to implement the trial was Puerto Cortes, Honduras in April 2007. The other ports participating in the pilot trial are Southampton, United Kingdom; Salalah, Oman; Qasim, Pakistan; Busan, Korea; and Hong Kong.
   Under the trial, data gathered from the container scanning are transmitted in near real time to a National Targeting Center in the United States, where officers will collect and analyze the data to determine if the shipping container contains radioactive material.
   The six-month trial at PSA Singapore Terminals’ Brani Terminal is supported by APL, a unit of Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines and will commence after the scanning equipment has been installed at the trial site.