In 2007, the Congress mandated that DHS use both radiation detectors and imaging systems to scan and persona all incoming seaborne containers before they are loaded onto a U.S.-bound ship. That approach would shift the radiation sickness scan and nonintrusive image from U.S. ports to oversea ports, with the finish of detecting any dangerous threats before they arrive. The set about besides would aim to image all containers rather of limiting the manipulation of expensive imaging resources to bad containers. The jurisprudence gave DHS until 2012 to fully implement this system, but the deadline has been extended three times and is now 2018. CBO examined five options that illustrate the monetary value and implications of meeting the mandate deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as alternative approaches to increase the scan and visualize of containers .
What Are the Costs and Other Challenges of Scanning and Imaging All U.S.-Bound Containers at Overseas Ports?
Exporters ship containers from hundreds of ports in other countries to the United States. The mandate to scan and effigy all inbound containers poses three challenges for CBP : cost, potential ship delays, and possible refusal to comply by some operators and host countries. Although CBO examined the first two issues, full moon complaisance will besides require resolving the one-third publish, which is beyond the telescope of this study .
CBO examined two options that would meet the necessity to scan and persona 100 percentage of U.S.-bound containers. Under choice 1, CBP or alien partners would install scanning and imaging equipment at the 453 alien ports in 130 countries that load containers onto U.S.-bound ships ( see table below ). Conducting that scanning and imaging would cost, on average, $ 150 to $ 220 per container, which the U.S. government could either pay or recoup through fees assessed on shippers. If stream flows of inbound containers grow at 2.5 percentage per year, follow through and operate on such a system would cost between $ 22 billion and $ 32 billion in 2015 dollars over 10 years, CBO estimates. For comparison, CBO estimates that, using current procedures and equipment, CBP would spend about $ 1.3 billion over 10 years to picture about 5 percentage of inbound containers. Hence, the estimated cost of Option 1 is about 17 to 25 times the cost of CBP ’ s current scan and imagination organization. Paying for the more comprehensive examination system would require an increase of 17 percentage to 25 percentage in CBP ’ s total budget, a decrease in other spending by CBP, an addition in fees assessed on shippers, or some combination of those actions.
The range in CBO ’ second estimates reflects the different ways that CBP could scan and image containers. The higher cost would result from using current procedures and equipment. The lower monetary value would result if CBP increased the visualize rate for containers by adopting more effective procedures or new engineering that could be deployed in the future several years .
option 2 offers a cheaper way to meet the mandate : focus on the busiest overseas ports. Under that option, CBP or extraneous partners would install scan and imagination equipment at the 121 foreign ports that load 97 percentage of all containers on U.S.-bound ships. Shippers would have to route the remaining 3 percentage of inbound containers to those ports. That choice would cost $ 12 billion to $ 22 billion over 10 years—about $ 10 billion less than option 1. The cost to scan and double a container would range from $ 80 to $ 150.
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If the federal politics implemented 100 percentage scanning and imaging at oversea ports, other countries might in turn require that DHS read and trope all containers leaving the United States. ( CBP does not routinely read or image containers that leave the United States. ) Under that scenario, the total costs over 10 years for implementing 100 percentage scanning and imaging abroad could roughly double, rising to $ 37 billion to $ 63 billion for Option 1 and $ 27 billion to $ 53 billion for choice 2 .
What Are Some Options to Increase Imaging at U.S. Ports?
CBO examined three lower-cost options that would increase imaging for containers arriving at U.S. ports quite than meet the mandate ’ s prerequisite to image and scan all of them overseas :
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- Doubling the fraction of containers imaged as they enter the United States to about 10 percent (Option 3) would increase costs by $1 billion to $2 billion over 10 years.
- Raising the imaging rate to 100 percent of containers at all 74 U.S. ports that receive international containers (Option 4) would increase costs by $4 billion to $8 billion over 10 years.
- Restricting imaging to the busiest 32 U.S. ports, representing 99.7 percent of all inbound containers (Option 5, which is similar to Option 2 for the busiest overseas ports), would cost $4 billion to $7 billion over 10 years.
What Are the Potential Effects of Increased Scanning?
Implementing the mandate under Option 1 or Option 2 would precipitously increase the number of containers scanned and imaged ; doing so besides would increase the chances of detecting nuclear weapons or materials before they reached the United States. In summation, imaging every container would enhance CBP ’ s ability to detect more common bootleg and ship irregularities. however, to be effective, those options would potentially require more than 100 countries and hundreds of port operators to agree to scanning and imaging .
More imagination of spell containers at U.S. ports ( Options 3–5 ) besides would increase the chances of detecting nuclear materials or weapons but would avoid the diplomatic challenges associated with widespread imagination of U.S.-bound containers abroad. Increased imaging at domestic ports besides could avoid the possible motivation for reciprocal scanning arrangements whereby the United States might have to scan shipments headed for other countries. however, scanning and imaging containers at U.S. ports quite than overseas ports could increase the chances that a weapon in a container could be detonated in a U.S. port before it is scanned or imaged .
All the options CBO examined involve imaging more containers. But how much those steps would reduce potential smuggling of nuclear weapons or materials into the United States is not clear. The options do not address early paths that smugglers might use, such as hand truck or rail at nation crossings from Mexico or Canada, tunnels under the border, early types of commercial ships, private yachts, and aircraft. Those alternative paths could become more attractive if the United States sharply increased scan and visualize of containers. No options considered here would address those other paths or other threats to the United States or its provide chain .