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UP to 30,000 port workers, including truck drivers, employed at the Port of Savannah and the Port of Brunswick, are expected to enrol in the US Transportation Security Agency's Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) programme, according to the Georgia Ports' Authority.
The announcement from port authorities follows the recent opening of a TWIC enrolment centre in Savannah.
Created by the Department of Homeland Security, TWIC is a federal initiative that requires all workers who have unescorted access to secure or restricted areas of seaports across the US, as well as access to vessels at berth, to undergo background checks and fingerprinting to qualify for the common identification credential.
Port workers who clear the enrolment process will be issued with a smart card by the Transport Security Association that will contain a template of the worker's fingerprint and photograph to verify the individual's identity against that on the card in his/her possession.
The enrolment fee for the TWIC card is US$132.50 and the port credential will be valid for five years.
Total container scanning blasted by ex-US Customs chief
FORMER US Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner has criticised legislation that calls for all US-bound air and sea freight to be scanned at overseas ports, warning that it will cause serious logistical problems.
Mr. Bonner, in office at the time of the 9/11 terror attacks, slammed the legislation, which was signed into law in August as a "simpleton's approach" to improving the security of the global supply chain given that up to 600 foreign ports export goods to the US, according to a report in New Zealand's Dominion Post newspaper.
The legislation to scan all US-bound containers at ports of origin overseas with imaging and radiation detection equipment for nuclear weapons is scheduled to be implemented within five years at seaports and within three years for all air freight.
"It's a terrible idea. It hasn't been implemented ... and I hope reason will prevail," Mr Bonner said.
Mr Bonner denied claims by supporters of the bill that the scanning of all cargo at the port of origin had been recommended by the 9/11 Commission.
His view that the legislation if implemented would be unworkable was supported by comments made by Stewart Milne, executive director of the Board of Airline Representatives of New Zealand. Mr Milne said the proposed legislation would cause delays and exporters would find it difficult to meet their contractual requirements.
"Air cargo has a different imperative, a lot of it is fresh - seafood, flowers - so it's going to cause major problems," he said.
At present, export containers that are identified to pose a risk to US security are scanned at foreign ports, which means about 5-10 per cent of US-bound containers are now being scanned.
The announcement from port authorities follows the recent opening of a TWIC enrolment centre in Savannah.
Created by the Department of Homeland Security, TWIC is a federal initiative that requires all workers who have unescorted access to secure or restricted areas of seaports across the US, as well as access to vessels at berth, to undergo background checks and fingerprinting to qualify for the common identification credential.
Port workers who clear the enrolment process will be issued with a smart card by the Transport Security Association that will contain a template of the worker's fingerprint and photograph to verify the individual's identity against that on the card in his/her possession.
The enrolment fee for the TWIC card is US$132.50 and the port credential will be valid for five years.
Total container scanning blasted by ex-US Customs chief
FORMER US Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner has criticised legislation that calls for all US-bound air and sea freight to be scanned at overseas ports, warning that it will cause serious logistical problems.
Mr. Bonner, in office at the time of the 9/11 terror attacks, slammed the legislation, which was signed into law in August as a "simpleton's approach" to improving the security of the global supply chain given that up to 600 foreign ports export goods to the US, according to a report in New Zealand's Dominion Post newspaper.
The legislation to scan all US-bound containers at ports of origin overseas with imaging and radiation detection equipment for nuclear weapons is scheduled to be implemented within five years at seaports and within three years for all air freight.
"It's a terrible idea. It hasn't been implemented ... and I hope reason will prevail," Mr Bonner said.
Mr Bonner denied claims by supporters of the bill that the scanning of all cargo at the port of origin had been recommended by the 9/11 Commission.
His view that the legislation if implemented would be unworkable was supported by comments made by Stewart Milne, executive director of the Board of Airline Representatives of New Zealand. Mr Milne said the proposed legislation would cause delays and exporters would find it difficult to meet their contractual requirements.
"Air cargo has a different imperative, a lot of it is fresh - seafood, flowers - so it's going to cause major problems," he said.
At present, export containers that are identified to pose a risk to US security are scanned at foreign ports, which means about 5-10 per cent of US-bound containers are now being scanned.
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