New Shipping Laws for Foreign Ports

The United States has just passed a new law that will require foreign ports to scan all shipping containers before sending them to the US. Ports will need to purchase up to ten x-ray or gamma-ray scanners that cost about $5 million. This new law was passed in August but will not go into effect until 2012.

The law on Maritime Cargo Scanning Requirements was put into place to make certain that terrorists are not using freight containers to smuggle weapons or bombs into the US. However, security experts say that it will not completely eliminate the risk.

700 ports worldwide are getting ready for the switch. However, smaller ports will be at a disadvantage because they cannot afford to order the new equipment. These ports will no longer be able to ship to the US. President Bush might see this as a good thing since they are hoping to cut the number of ports that ship to the US down to 100.