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Chertoff: Private Sector Must Invest to Secure Port Containers NewsMax.com Wires SINGAPORE -- Private companies can speed up delivery time of containers bound for U.S. ports if they invest in screening measures designed to prevent terrorism, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday. "Investments up front and an hour or two ahead of time can save weeks at the receiving end," Chertoff said at a lunch hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. Chertoff said Washington needed the cooperation of private companies in compiling information on containers, such as the shipper, the consignee and the method of payment, in order to assess whether the goods were "high risk."
"The name of the game here is to essentially profile the containers," he said. Story Continues Below
Chertoff said security measures for containers would be most effective if implemented from the point of embarkation, rather than on arrival at a U.S. port. He acknowledged, however, that it was important that such measures avoid a bottleneck that slows the "fluidity" of global trade. In Japan on Tuesday, Chertoff said Tokyo should implement a system to screen U.S. bound shipping containers for radiation to guard against so-called "dirty bombs" and other potential terrorist attacks. He said that while the extra screening could impose some inconvenience, ports joining the initiative would be at a competitive advantage because the cargo passing through them would be viewed as safer and would reach their destinations more quickly. Chertoff also planned to visit China. He said he would discuss shipping security as well as steps to speed the return to China of Chinese caught illegally entering the United States.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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