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 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 
 Re:  Review  of  Part  15  and  other  Parts  of  the  Commission’s  Rules,  Third  Report  and  Order,  ET  Docket  No.  01-  278 
 With  more  than  two  billion  tons  of  freight  traveling  through  U.  S.  ports  and  waterways  yearly,  ensuring  the  efficient  flow  of  goods  while  reducing  the  possibility  of 
 terrorism  and  fraud  is  no  easy  task. 
 Today’s  Third  Report  and  Order  allows  a  powerful  new  technology  to  help  secure  our  ports  while  increasing  productivity.  Specifically,  we  change  Commission  rules  to 
 allow  for  the  introduction  of  smart  shipping  containers  that  can  detect  intrusions  and  streamline  the  inventory  process. 


 When  you  consider  that  a  trillion  dollars  worth  of  goods  pass  through  our  ports  annually,  the  potential  economic  benefits  of  this  technology  become  clear. 
 It  is  worth  noting  that  some  have  raised  privacy  concerns  regarding  the  use  of  radio  frequency  identification  (RFID)  tags.  We  are  aware  of  these  concerns,  and  stress 
 that  today’s  ruling  is  narrowly  tailored.  The  technical  and  operational  rules  we  adopt  today  allow  higher-  powered/  longer-  duration  RFID  tag  use  on  limited  frequencies,  and 
 only  in  commercial  and  industrial  environments.  We  also  take  steps  to  protect  federal  government  radar  sites  from  interference  by  requiring  grantees  of  an  equipment 
 authorization  for  a  433  MHz  RFID  device  to  register  their  location  and  inform  purchasers  where  the  devices  may  or  may  not  be  used. 


 I’m  excited  by  the  prospects  for  improved  inventory  control,  lower  costs,  and  increased  homeland  security  that  this  technology  promises  to  bring. 
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