The European Union hopes to persuade the US Congress to change an "enormously costly" US law requiring foreign ports to scan every container headed to the United States, a top EU official said. EU Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said the legislation would create "enormous problems in trade" if it takes effect as planned in 2012. "And last but not least, it can even fuel some tension in EU-US relations," Kovacs told reporters after the first meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council, a new US-EU initiative aimed at lowering trade and investment barriers. Kovacs warned the 100 percent scanning requirement could generate a false illusion of 100 percent security" because EU analysis indicated it would not absolutely ensure no dangerous cargo would find its way to the United States.
The United States imports about 12 million containers filled with goods every year. Many older European ports would have to make big investments in infrastructure to accommodate scanning equipment for 20- or 40-foot steel containers.
"It is enormously costly," Kovacs said.
The EU hopes to persuade Congress an alternative "risk-based" approach can improve container security without requiring massive new investments or creating trade bottlenecks, Kovacs said.
A key element of the EU's proposal is mutual recognition of each other's secure trade initiatives known as the Customs Trade Partner Against Terrorism in the United States and the Authorized Economic Operator program in the EU.
Both extend simplified customs checks to companies that provide detailed information about their supply chains and have been approved for the program by customs authorities.
US and EU officials agreed on Friday to work toward mutual recognition of each other's program by sometime in 2009, Kovacs said. That would allow companies enrolled in one program to be automatically enrolled in the other.
Although US officials were sympathetic to EU concerns about the 100 percent scanning requirement, the challenge is to persuade members of Congress to change the law, Kovacs said.
That probably is not possible before the November 2008 presidential election, he said.
US and EU officials also agreed to launch talks aimed at reducing trans-Atlantic barriers to investment and to promote open investment regimes around the world, according to a joint statement of the Transatlantic Economic Council.
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