How scanners are used
The ways in which scanners are managed and operated also directly affects their efficiency. Outsourcing. When scanning is outsourced to a private company that charges a fee for every scanned vehicle or container, there is a strong incentive to scan everything that crosses the border. Scanning becomes a routine revenue raiser, with the excuse that it encourages revenue compliance. And fees can be high, hindering trade facilitation. (The only exception is when scanning is mandatory for every container at a seaport, as under the Container Security Initiative.) Number of scans. The tendency to scan all trucks and containers is sometimes defended with the claim that a scan is not a physical examination. Such claims reflect resistance to the recent pressure on customs administrations to replace 100 percent physical examination policies with a more targeted approach. In fact, scans are physical examinations. Although goods are inspected without unloading, the time taken to direct vehicles to a scanning facility—especially if queue management is poor— often lengthens border processing without improving results. Like manual inspections, routine scans rapidly lead operators and analysts to lose their focus.39 Systematic scanning is sometimes used for transit control. The scanned image of an entering truck is attached to the transit documentation and transmitted to the point of exit, where a new scan should reveal if a shipment has been tampered with. Here scanning performs the same function as seals do, and the scan does not necessarily increase transit security. Modern stations use targeted scans based on risk management and some random selection. In European countries, an increasing number of scans are carried out by mobile or relocatable equipment away from the border on main roads. These downstream checks, which have proved highly effective, are based on prior targeting by mobile inland customs patrols.
Borders, their design, and their operation
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Scanning fees. Even when scans are not outsourced, customs may collect a scanning fee. There are four possible fee structures: 72
B O R D E R M A N A G E M E N T M O D E R N I Z AT I O N
A flat fee is collected—either on scanned vehicles only or on every vehicle, whether scanned or not. This resembles funding airport security through airport taxes. • A fee is collected only when a fraud is detected. If the fee is made proportional to the value of the detected goods, it becomes part of the penalty. • The fee is based on the type of vehicle or goods. It becomes a form of customs tariff. • No fee is collected. The last solution, fee free scanning, is by far the best. A fee can encourage drivers to pay higher bribes not to be scanned. Fees also add to the cost of transport. Proponents say they are used for maintaining equipment—but the cost of scanning equipment should be included in that of border stations, without the need for an extra fee. •
Scanner sharing. Scanning equipment should be shared among agencies. The equipment is expensive, and there is no need to duplicate it except when traffic volumes are extremely high.40 Agencies have different objectives: for example, the border police may want to check if there are illegal immigrants in a container, when customs are interested only in revenue. Joint use creates synergy and promotes the sharing of intelligence and risk management methods. Scanners usually are operated by customs. Sharing scanners with the border police can add to customs’ relative clout among border agencies. However, this should not mean granting requests by border police to scan all vehicles. Scanner sharing may raise questions about maintenance, check reliability, and the legal validity of findings when the operator is not the requesting agency. Usually such questions can be resolved through memorandums of understanding and by having analysts from both agencies present during the scan (a policy that also promotes cross-training). Scanners can also be shared across the border. One country may request another to carry out a scan on its behalf—preferably at juxtaposed border stations, which are governed by agreements on extraterritorial controls—or monitors can be installed in both countries’ offices, reducing costs. Scanners, however promising for detection, are only as good as their operators. The best analysts are usually experienced examining officers, who know