Reports have it that the US will miss the container scanning deadline, the Hindu Business Line reported.

The US Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, was recently quoted as saying that her department would be unable to meet the Congress-mandated 2012 deadline for scanning all US-bound ship cargo for weapons of mass destruction.

The department has requested for an extension of the deadline citing insufficient technology and high expenses associated with scanning some 10 million cargo containers that enter the country every year.

According to the department's calculations, some 86 percent of cargo shipped to the US originates from 58 out of over 700 global ports. The screening with available technology would slow the flow of trade and drive up the cost the US government and the foreign government concerned without yielding great benefits.

The British International Freight Association has suggested that the US authorities should work on a revised risk assessed, commercially practical and technically feasible programme.