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Immigration Watchdog » Arab firm is first international port operator to be certified for security by U.S.
A leading Gulf firm in the United Arab Emirates whose plans to operate six U.S. ports was last year rebuffed by Congress, has been certified as a partner in a U.S. port security program.
The state-owned Dubai Ports World has [...]
Homeland Security Today - news and analysis - Total Ship Cargo Scanning Impractical, CBP Says
A congressional mandate to scan 100 percent of all shipping containers coming into US ports for nuclear or other harmful material is simply unrealistic and “not a wise investment of taxpayer dollars.” The technology doesn’t yet exist to sufficiently scan all [...]
Global resistance is growing to a looming Congressional mandate that will require the scanning of all containers entering U.S. ports by 2012. The World Customs Organization (WCO) released a new report on Tuesday analyzing the 9/11 Bill’s requirement for 100% cargo scanning – a measure that Le Havre University researchers found will have significant “technical and organizational difficulties.”
As the GAO report shows, C-TPAT is not perfect. As with so many areas of homeland security, there are still a number of challenges that must be addressed and improved. Most critical among them is the lack of systematic follow-up by Customs and Border Protection officials to ensure that full implementation of their security requirements are met before granting benefits. Anyone who reads this report, however, will be struck by the degree of improvement C-TPAT has undergone since it was formally adopted, as well as the sophistication of DHS’s overarching risk-based approach to security. It is the very opposite of the model called for by some critics, who want to replace this model with the so-called 100 Percent model.
As Chairman of the Safe Commerce Coalition, I’ve spoken to a number of audiences lately about the issue of cargo and supply chain security. I find myself often having to remind folks that when we stood up the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, we had a two-fold mission when it came to border security. First was to secure the borders. The second mission, which is sometimes forgotten, is to maintain the free and efficient flow of commerce and people.
We see the “100 Percent” debate playing itself out between DHS and Democrats on the Hill — in the areas of employee screening at our nation’s airports, the screening of air cargo, and the screening of shipping containers coming from overseas. In all these instances, Democrats have passed legislative mandates requiring DHS to implement the costly solution of 100% scanning. DHS has been correct to push back, and they should do so more forcefully.
The Heritage Foundation will host next week a forum on cargo security entitled Homeland Security and Inspecting Shipping Containers: Debating the Way Forward. Two of Security Debrief’s contributors will participate – former DHS Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, who is also now head of the Safe Commerce Coalition, and Dr. James Carafano, who is the senior fellow for foreign policy, homeland security and counter-terrorism issues at the Foundation.
The 2004 Madrid subway attacks and the 2005 London subway and bus attacks demonstrate that the terrorists consider passenger rail and mass transit as preferred targets. The rising fuel costs for automobiles and congested air travel could logically push more passengers to rail throughout the course of the year and beyond. This is where DHS and DOT should place their emphasis.
Buried deep within extensive testimony given by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Jay Ahern on April 2 before the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee was a brief announcement that CBP has decided not to pursue the Global Trade Exchange cargo shipping risk assessment program. GTX, previously known as the Secure Freight Initiative before that name began being used to describe overseas scanning programs, had ended up being the Spruce Goose of cargo security – oversold and too big a concept for liftoff.
Despite the President’s budget to limit port security grant funding to $210 million for FY’09, the Senate passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2009 Congressional Budget Resolution last week (March 14) by a vote of 51-44. Originally, port security grant funding was not in the President’s budget but cam about out of a bipartisan effort to ensure security funding was a priority in the Congressional budget. To move the funding where it is today has not been an easy task, and we now must focus to ensure the grant program can sustain our security levels
As a longtime train traveler with an interest in security issues, the recently announced Amtrak regulations were of particular interest to me. From initial reports, the regulations appear as if they are likely to improve security without impeding the convenience of rail travel.
Threat is found in all sorts of places and even in the smallest of places such as small boats. These craft come in all shapes and sizes, from smaller pleasure craft all the way to speedboats, and a thousand other private and commercial platforms. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security faces a difficult task in trying to track, control and mitigate the risks posed by the millions of small boats that regularly operate in U.S. waters. Congress and the Administration should invest in assets that improve the overall security of the maritime domain.
A key development in the aviation security arena occurred yesterday when TSA formally announced the seven airports that will take part in airport employee screening pilot tests as required by the Omnibus Appropriations Act passed by Congress in January 2008. In the formal TSA announcement, TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said that “[t]hese pilots will give [...]
Rep. Markey has demagogued the cargo security issue for years, purely for political reasons it seems to me. Given the body of evidence that requiring physical inspection of each piece of air cargo will not measurably add to improved security, yet it will certainly add significantly to the costs to the customer, one wonders if Representative Markey is aware of how hollow his comments seem to be?
With Congress threatening to force TSA to physically examine every piece of cargo prior to accepting it for transport, the air cargo system faces a near-certain failure. Today’s US aviation industry is fighting for its very survival; industry consolidation will take place as carriers look for cost savings. Jet fuel prices are beyond sustainable levels with the current ticket pricing structure. A Congressional mandate along an apparent misinterpretation of the 9/11 Law to mandate physical screening of every box, may well cause the Perfect Storm that causes the demise of the airline industry.
Congress has much to do to improve on its below-par performance on homeland security in 2007. These five priorities are good places to start: Consolidate congressional oversight of DHS; stop turning DHS grants into pork barrel grabfests; establish an Undersecretary for DHS; repeal the damaging mandate to scan 100 percent of all cargo; finish immigration reform.
By Kevin R. McCarthy, Special Guest to Security DeBrief
Board of Advisors, SPADAC Inc.
Scanning 100% of the packages that process through this system is a focus of the 9/11 Bill. Many people interpret this process as being similar to the treatment a traveler’s bag receives at the airport security checkpoint. Logistically, however, this is simply impossible. Implementing the 100% requirement will create a net effect to completely cripple our economy.
Earlier this week, two Security DeBrief contributors shared their thoughts on topics ranging from the implementation of the SAFE Port Act to 100% cargo scanning in a panel discussion entitled “Is America Safer at Sea? Grading U.S. Maritime Security.” Jack Quinn, chairman of the Safe Commerce Coalition, outlined how the newly formed organization will proactively advocate for practical, sensible solutions to protect the supply chain - in contrast with some of misguided approaches such as 100% scanning that might actually result in decreased security for the nation. The event was moderated by Dr. James Carafano, and also featured Rear Admiral Mary Landry of the U.S. Coast Guard and Dr. Robbin Laird, an international security expert with Anteon Corporation. View a video of the event here.