Bush signs off on new port-security legislation
Port Security Improvement Act of 2006 takes steps to remove uncertainty from global supply chains
By Jeff Berman, Senior Editor -- Logistics Management, 10/1/2006
WASHINGTON — Late last month, President George W. Bush signed off on legislation designed to improve security at U.S. ports and provide a unifying structure for cargo security programs. The legislation is part of the Fiscal Year 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.
The Port Security Improvement Act of 2006 originally was introduced as the GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act by Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Susan M. Collins (R-Maine). Its companion, the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives by Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.).
According to an aide in Senator Murray's office, the legislation authorizes expenditures of approximately $3.4 billion for the fiscal years 2007 through 2011. Missing from the final version are provisions for rail and mass-transit security that would have cost $4.7 billion.
Among the law's primary objectives are creating a “GreenLane” that will provide benefits such as expedited cargo clearance and fewer customs inspections for shippers that meet the highest security standards; creating a system for resuming trade after an incident; and funding port-security grants. Other provisions include: establishing minimum security standards for containers entering the United States; institutionalizing and strengthening current cargo-security initiatives, including voluntary programs such as the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Container Security Initiative (CSI); requiring maritime facilities' security plans to address surface transportation of intermodal containers; and establishing an Office of Cargo Security Policy at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Among the major enhancements made since last year's debut:
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Mandating radiation-detection equipment at the 22 ports that now receive 98 percent of U.S. imports;
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Funding a pilot program to evaluate and improve the security of empty containers at U.S. seaports;
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Allocating $400 million per year in port-security grants from fiscal years 2007 through 2011;
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Setting a January 1, 2009, deadline for implementing the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) at all U.S. ports; and
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Authorizing the hiring of an additional 1,000 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.
At one point the Senate-approved version included 111 amendments, many of which dropped out during the House and Senate conference process. One survivor was a proposal by Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) mandating testing of an integrated scanning system that uses non-intrusive inspection and radiation-detection equipment at three foreign seaports. According to Coleman's office, the amendment's objective is scanning of all containers transiting those ports to ensure the detection of nuclear materials before they reach the United States. Similar proposals for 100 percent inspection of containers have been rejected.
Vetting all containers after they arrive at U.S. ports would be impossible, but prescreening may be feasible, some experts say. “Demanding 100 percent physical inspection [of containers] is impractical,” said Dr. N. Shashikumar, dean of the Maine Maritime Academy's business school. “In time, hopefully, the scanning of U.S.-bound containers will become routine at all foreign ports.”
The Port Security Improvement Act has both benefits and drawbacks, said Cmdr. Stephen E. Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “The act is constructive in bringing a great deal of clarity,” he said at a recent industry conference. “…The not-so-good news is that most of the things that would have given us confidence that all of the stakeholders are doing what they promised have been taken out of the legislation.”
Flynn cited the examples of third-party verification of C-TPAT compliance and standards for training port-security officers. “What we have with this legislation is Version 1.0 of where we need to go,” he said. “It has most things right, but we need to be thinking about evolving this.”
Congressman Lungren told Logistics Management that one of the law's benefits is that it will help shippers remove uncertainty from their supply chains. “As certain programs like C-TPAT and CSI go toward increasing cooperation between the government and shippers, we make them a product of statutory authority, as opposed to just a program of the administrations,” Lungren said in an interview. “We put the imprimatur of the Congress on it, but we also make this authorization such that there is some certainty that not only will this be what they are facing next year but for the foreseeable future. The one thing that [shippers] need less than anything else is uncertainty.”
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