WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- The DHS will do more testing on an advanced container-scanning system at the port of Hong Kong.
The testing will be increased despite industry and lawmaker concerns that the Department of Homeland Security is moving too slowly to improve maritime security, National Journal's Technology Daily reported Monday.
The DHS's Customs and Border Protection agency is set to begin a new round of operational testing on the integrated container inspection system, which is installed at two terminals at the port, Jayson Ahern, CBP's assistant commissioner for field operations, told Technology Daily.
Under the system, which was created as a test program and funded by industry, all cargo containers are scanned by a radiation detector and gamma-ray imaging system. Electronic records of every scan are created and can be reviewed by customs inspectors.
Supporters said the system, built by Science Applications International Corp., represents a breakthrough in technology that would let every container be scanned at foreign ports without hurting trade.
The department has been analyzing the system since it was started in late 2004 but still has yet to give any indication about how -- or even if -- the technology will be integrated into maritime security efforts, Stephen Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an expert on port and cargo security told Technology Daily.
Lawmakers have been hotly divided on the issue of whether all containers can be scanned at foreign ports. Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal from Democrats last week to require such scanning within three years, arguing that technology does not exist to do it.
