Secure Shipping Containers Remain an Elusive Goal 

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By Stew Magnuson and Grace Jean  

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.

For six years, the Department of Homeland Security agency has been working on the problem. The fear is that a terrorist could break in and hide weapons of mass destruction 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 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 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 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.