False alarms: secure shipping containers remain an elusive goal.The goal of finding a device that detects when a shipping container has been tampered with "still lies just beyond our grasp," said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham W. Ralph Basham is the current Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He previously served as the 21st Director of the United States Secret Service on January 27, 2003. . For six years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States agency has been working on the problem. The fear is that a terrorist could break in and hide weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or or their components in a shipping container without the owner's knowledge. "The perfect technology is probably a long way off and may prove to be far too expensive," he said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a Washington, D.C.-based foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1964 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and historian David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University. panel discussion. Requirements for a "smart box" or "container security device" will be published "soon," Basham said, but he declined to be more specific. If CBP CBP competitive protein binding. finds a device that meets the requirements, it will complete operational tests within 60 to 90 days, he said. The devices should be able to remotely alert customs officers when a container has been breached. Although considered one of the top priorities for improving shipping container security, the alarms have proven to be a difficult technological hurdle, DHS DHS Department of Homeland Security (USA) DHS Department of Human Services DHS Department of Health Services DHS Demographic and Health Surveys DHS Dirhams (Morocco national currency) and industry sources have said. The devices must be rugged enough to withstand extreme jostling and the corrosive sea environment, they must be inexpensive--a few dollars per container per shipment--and they must have low false alarm rates. Any more than 1 percent would slow down commerce. With about 12 million containers entering the United States every year, a 1-percent false alarm rate would force agents to physically inspect more than 3,000 units per day. "Although I expect that there will be relatively few false positives, still we will need to figure out how we will deal with them," Basham said. Even if CBP succeeds in finding an acceptable solution, installing such devices will be voluntary for shippers, Basham said. The financial motivation for taking on the added expense of installing the devices would be quicker and more predictable customs clearances, he added. |
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