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Ports clamping down with high-tech cards
Page 16
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Futuristic ID is on the cards for port-bound drivers in the aftermath of 19/1 1'. Guy Sheppard reports.
UK PORTS could soon be issuing truck drivers with the most sophisticated identity cards currently available even though it would cost at least £1.5m.
Biometric identity cards, which use fingerprints or retina scans to confirm the bearer's identity, would be introduced as part of the International Shop and Port Security code, which came into force on 1 July. This requires ports to introduce anti terrorism measures following the 11 September attacks on the United States.
Rod Devenish, Road Haulage Association area manager in the South-East, says Hutchison Ports (UK),which owns the UK's biggest container port at Felixstowe, is taking the lead on this issue.
"They [Hutchison] are in favour of biometrics but, like everything else, it is down to cost," he says. "Obviously, they want donations from other ports to make it viable."
Devenish says he will probably organise a meeting next month to enable the ports to thrash out an agreement on how to harmonise the identification requirements.
Hutchison says several options are still being considered.