Word: cargos
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...could be infiltrated by terrorists. The Coast Guard has since made clear that its concerns about Dubai Ports World were subsequently addressed and resolved, but Congressional Democrats, not surprisingly, remain skeptical. But lost amid the current controversy is the fact that U.S. port security actually starts overseas, long before cargo arrives at U.S. shores, and security experts warn that there are crucial gaps even at that point...
...Only about 5% of the some 6 million cargo containers that come into U.S. terminals each year are actually inspected. Instead of checking every box, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has what its officials call a "multi-layered" security system to target suspicious containers that might have been tampered with by terrorists. The targeting starts at the foreign ports where U.S.-bound goods are loaded onto ships, and it depends on information provided by the shippers...
...That information, or the lack thereof, is part of the problem. For instance, 24 hours before American-bound containers are loaded onto a vessel in a foreign port, the ship?s captain must send an electronic manifest of his cargo to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which checks it against intelligence reports to determine if any of the containers need further inspection. But the captain doesn?t actually know what?s in the containers. The manifest he sends is drawn from the bill of lading the original shipper supplies, which may not be detailed, or more importantly, accurate...
...some instances, White House officials have gone straight to Capitol Hill to squelch regulatory efforts. In June 2003 Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, introduced an amendment to mandate 100% inspection of airplane cargo. While airline passengers walk through metal detectors and have all their bags screened, the 6 billion pounds of cargo traveling beneath them each year is subject only to spot inspections by the feds. The government leaves it up to air carriers and the companies that forward freight to the carriers to screen their regular cargo customers...
...House passed Markey's amendment by a 278-146 vote, but the airline industry, which makes about $17 billion annually from cargo on passenger planes, claimed that the technology for 100% inspection wasn't available and that even if it did exist, costs would be prohibitive. Senior officials at the DHS agreed, and that fall they persuaded House-Senate conferees to strip Markey's amendment from the appropriations bill. "The Bush Administration bends over backwards for industry while turning its back on needed homeland-security safeguards," Markey complains. "It's commerce over common sense." But Russ Knocke, a DHS spokesman...