THE Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives voted 299-128 to enforce rigorous screening of every container for explosives and nuclear materials within five years for ship cargo and three years for airfreight.

But prospects for the comprehensive container inspection bill are less certain in the Senate because of opposition from Republican and Democrat senators who together with Homeland Security officials, see the bill resulting in the throttling of trade to the United States.

The Homeland Security Department said no affordable technology for such levels of rigorous screening exists, and such measures risk stopping world trade into the US. "Inspecting every container could cause ports to shut down," a Homeland Security spokesman told The New York Times.

The bill is expected to run into Senate trouble where members are more sensitive to trade issues. Many Republicans and even Senate Democratic committee chairmen have said they were not convinced that specific mandates should be included in the bill.

The bill, based on the findings of the recent 9/11 Commission report, would require that all sea containers entering to be scanned for nuclear weapons and explosives.

Estimates for air cargo screening run to US$3.6 billion over the next decade, and ship inspections would cost even more.

Democrats, who won control of the US Congress in November, were jubilant: "Today marks a giant leap forward toward a safer and more secure America," said Mississippi Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, new chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, who introduced the bill January 5.