The U.S. plans anti-terror checks using X-rays and other techniques on all containers bound for the country starting July 2012 at the latest. But Japanese officials said that such a practice could "greatly block distribution of goods to the U.S. from the rest of the world."
It could also "give a great impact on the world's economic activity as a whole," the statement added.
The proposal is also incompatible with standards proposed by the World Customs Organization, which would require selective inspections of high-risk cargo, the statement said. "The Japanese government fully understands the importance of anti-terror measures but it thinks it important to implement measures without blocking distribution of goods," it added.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
