Europe Scientists Working on Security for Cargo Containers

EUROPEAN scientists believe they are ahead of their opposite numbers in the US in developing a device that would satisfy Washington's quest to check every container arriving in the country, while also cracking down on cargo theft.

No system can be fully effective until a global standard is agreed, but here too events are moving quickly.

Thales Research Technology (UK) is heading a consortium that hopes to publish its proposal on the standardisation of readers for suitably adapted containers next month, once permission has been given by the European Commission, which is sponsoring and partially financing the project.

The recommendations will then be submitted to the International Organisation for Standardisation for validation.

However, Thales R&T has already produced a small and easily fitted device that is ready to go into production, and which would allow cargo owners and other authorised parties to monitor a container from the moment contents are loaded until the point of delivery.

Michael Naylor, technical manger at Thales R&T, believes this could go a long way towards meeting proposed requirements for screening 100% of US-bound containers with a minimum of disruption and without the need for massive manpower resources.

Instead of scanning a container at various points during a door-to-door delivery particularly if it is transhipped the box would only have to be screened once, for example, at the load port.