"Security Fee May Be Needed For Maritime Security, RAND Says"

["Jaro" <jaro-10kbq@sympatico.ca>]

"Too many people.... assume that because terrorists haven't yet used cargo

containers to attack the United States, that terrorists won't use them

eventually."



 Jaro

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^





http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_hsd_story.jsp?id=news/may09103

.xml

Homeland Security & Defense   Sep 24, 2003

Security Fee May Be Needed For Maritime Security, RAND Says

By Harvey Simon

September 10, 2003



A security tax, similar to the fee tacked onto the price of airline tickets,

would help improve maritime security, which is still lax two years after

9/11, according to a new RAND Corp. study.



But while a tax on the movement of shipping containers would relieve

industry of some of the financial burden for making security improvements,

shippers, freight forwarders, trucking companies and ports appear unready to

take responsibility for assuring that none of the 250 million containers

shipped annually contains a weapon of mass destruction, the study said.



"A possible outcome to the...funding problem could be the introduction of a

security tax, as is already in place at airports," the report, released

Sept. 8, said.



There probably would be widespread opposition from industry to any such fee,

according to Michael Conners, a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton, of

McLean, Va. Instead, industry wants the government to use general tax

revenue to fund security improvements, said Conners, who handles border and

transportation security issues.



The industry fears that a tax on the movement of cargo could make it too

expensive to ship some goods. Heavy, low-value items such as weights for

exercise would become prohibitively expensive, Conners said.



"There is a price point at which loading up the industry with a heavy tax

burden becomes very uneconomic," he said.



Chang Guan, an assistant professor in the logistics and intermodal

transportation program at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point,

N.Y., agreed that industry would oppose such a tax.



But he supported the idea of a tax, saying "the user should share some of

the responsibility" for upgrading security. Guan said his views did not

necessarily represent those of the academy.



>From the time shipping containers are loaded to when they are unpacked at

their destination, custody changes hands numerous times, spreading the

responsibility for security, the RAND report noted.



The container transport chain is "quite fragmented and involves many

different organizations," the report said. "This makes the chain quite

'leaky' and easy to penetrate. Conversely, it makes it difficult to secure

the transport chain."



But the flip side of that fragmented responsibility is the intermodal

flexibility of containers. They are moved by crane, truck, rail and ship,

and that flexibility underpins the system's efficiency, according to Guan.



To ensure security, all containers should be X-rayed, according to John

Callaghan, senior business manager for counter-terrorism and intelligence

operations and support services at Harris Corp., in Alexandria, Va.



Harris markets a three-dimensional port-modeling technology it calls Real

Site that is intended to help facility operators identify areas that are

vulnerable, according to Michael Edwins, senior business development manager

for Harris' homeland security/counter-terrorism unit.



The company also provides X-ray systems to scan containers. The RAND report

noted, however, that X-ray machines "are not foolproof by a long shot."



Harris sees the maritime security market expanding, with most of the funding

coming from the federal government.



But the divided responsibility and jurisdictions at ports makes it difficult

to know "who is that one belly button you got to push," Callaghan said.

Compounding the problem is that every port has a different organizational

structure, he added.



Finally, there is complacency about the risk of container security.

According to the RAND report, "there is a distinct lack of awareness of the

threat, especially in the private sector...."



"In two years [since 9/11], it's amazing how quickly people can forget

what's happened," said Danny McKnight, a former colonel with the Army

Rangers and now a senior consultant with Harris' homeland security unit. Too

many people, McKnight said, assume that because terrorists haven't yet used

cargo containers to attack the United States, that terrorists won't use them

eventually.



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