Port of Haifa joins US Customs container security programme

US CUSTOMS has announced that Israel's Port of Haifa has joined the Container Security Initiative to pre-screen containers bound for American ports after having announced that the smaller Port of Ashdod had signed on earlier this month.

"We are committed to using high-tech equipment and smarter, more secure containers to safeguard the supply chain, and realise that co-operation from our friends around the globe is our most potent weapon," said US Customs Commissioner Ralph Basham.

Based on advance information, the initiative seeks to identify high-risk containers using large-scale x-ray and gamma ray machines and radiation detection devices before they are shipped. The process also seeks to ensure that this is done rapidly without slowing trade.

More than 80 per cent of all cargo containers destined for US shores originate in or are transshipped through 54 ports in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.