TWIC port card delayed — again
WASHINGTON — The controversial Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) is still not ready and its long-overdue rollout has been postponed yet again, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The biometric card — proposed after Sept. 11 to boost security at U.S. ports and maritime facilities — was supposed to be given to about 750,000 port workers, longshoreman, has been delayed several times because of costs, technological and administrative problems. It was slated to kick-in at 10 ports this April, after already missing a previous deadline last fall.
facilities beyond seaports.
Now, enrollment is being delayed until at least July because of issues with card readers to bring up workers’ information, the head of the Transportation Security Administration told a Senate committee yesterday.
“We respect the deadline and April is too soon to give up on a July deadline but if it is a choice between meeting the deadline and program integrity, we will choose the latter,” said Kip Hawley, assistant secretary for TSA, according to written testimony given to the Senate Commerce Committee.
TWIC requires U.S. port workers to undergo further background checks before they are granted unescorted access to vessels, cargo containers, and secure areas.
The technology will includes a circuit chip with the worker’s photograph, name, a serial number, and fingerprint template.
As reported by TodaysTrucking.com earlier this year, TWIC enrollment will cost truckers without a background check as much as $160 US. Drivers who have a comparable background credential, such as a hazmat endorsement — or for Canadian drivers, a FAST card — will still have to fork over between $107 and $127.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance has spent two years lobbying U.S. authorities to allow the FAST card in lieu of TWIC. But the association hasn’t been able convince decision makers as of yet.
TWIC would eventually include all transportation workers, workers at “security sensitive” facilities, and federal government employees requiring high-level security clearances.
— with files from the Baltimore Sun
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