DHS won’t require screening for every US-bound cargo container

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said DHS will delay a requirement that all inbound cargo containers undergo screening at their ports of exit.

The Homeland Security Department is backing off its mandate that by 2012, all United States-bound cargo containers must be screened from their port of exit, according to the Homeland Security Newswire.

Speaking at the Rotterdam, Netherlands, port, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said she questioned the ability to scan 100 percent of cargo containers destined for the United States. A 2007 law that requires such screening gives the department the option of postponing the mandate if DHS officials don’t think it’s an achievable goal, according to the Homeland Security Newswire.

Napolitano said DHS prefers a layered approach that features international cooperation and better intelligence sharing, according to the article.