General Accounting Office (GAO) Testimony on Container Security
 
November 26, 2002
 

GAO has released its findings on current United States efforts to detect nuclear materials.  The agency testified at the recent hearing of the House Subcommittee on National Security.  The GAO stated that, while U.S. ports have in place programs to detect illegal fissile material or nuclear weapons, these programs are limited to screening of a small portion of the total cargo and are hampered by the quality of information regarding which cargo poses the greatest risk.  The agency testified that new initiatives are underway to supplement these programs and identified three key challenges the nation faces in implementing efforts to improve the security of ports and containers: 1) creating and enforcing a set of security standards; 2) ensuring the cooperation of diverse groups with competing interests; and 3) paying the increased security bill.  A copy of the GAO testimony is available http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03297t.pdf.