U.S. cargo-screening laws will be expensive

Consumers, trade partners will have to pay for security

by Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 6/11/2008 11:20:00 AM

Congressional directives designed to protect the U.S. from shipborne dirty bombs or weapons of mass destruction will impose a major financial burden on U.S. trade partners and consumers, experts warned Tuesday in a report by the AFP news service. Atop that, the needed equipment won’t be ready by the summer-2012 deadline.

The homeland security legislation passed by Congress last July requires countries to scan every one of the cargo containers heading to the U.S. each year before they leave their port of departure. The U.S. rules will affect the movement of 325 million containers per year from 600 port container terminals worldwide. News reports say it could cost around a billion dollars by the time the laws come into effect, according to expert calculations.

An Associated Press reports says world customs authorities want Congress to repeal or scale back the new law. The World Customs Organization and port authorities won't have the new equipment and staff needed by the law's July 1, 2012, deadline for 100% screening, according to Michel Danet, secretary general of the Brussels-based organization that represents 173 customs authorities worldwide. “We are trying to come up with arguments to convince the U.S. Congress to repeal or change the law,” Danet tells reporters.