A US port security task force is calling for mandatory national security standards for cargo and urging President George WBush to appoint a port security chief to coordinate agencies overseeing the nation's 361 seaports. Shippers should also pay a fee to help install more security at US ports, according to the task force established by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, whose bustling docks are among America's busiest. The suggestions were endorsed by New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, who visited a Port Elizabeth terminal to outline the findings. "It is more than ... containers. It is that whole supply chain that exposes our society, and we need to make sure that we are doing everything that is possible." Corzine also said a nationwide "credentialing" system for port workers is still needed.
The task force of government and business leaders found that an attack at or through any port would likely disrupt operations nationwide. It said each port should develop its own recovery plan. About 2.4 million of the 11.3 million containers entering the United States last year were handled at Port Authority of New York and New Jersey docks, along with tons of bulk cargo and cars worth more than US$132 billion (HK$1.03 trillion). In January, the Bush administration created an uproar when it said a company based in the United Arab Emirates could acquire some US port operations. But public pressure led Dubai Ports World to decide to sell the US assets. Recommendations of the task force, formed in March, are being sent to members of Congress and the Department of Homeland Security. The department plans to maintain a balance between proper screening - starting when US-bound cargo is loaded overseas - and ensuring that commerce is not strangled, spokesman Jarrod Agen said. This "risk management approach" not only utilizes US personnel and technology overseas but additional screening of high-risk cargo when it arrives at domestic ports, he said. US officials will receive a ship's manifest 24 hours before it docks. Agen dismissed the task force suggestion for a port security chief as "additional bureaucracy."