The European Union hopes to persuade the US Congress to change a costly law requiring foreign ports to scan every container headed to the United States.
EU Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said the legislation would create enormous problems in trade if it takes effect as planned in 2012.
He said that it could fuel some tension in EU-US relations.
Mr Kovacs was speaking after the first meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council, a new US-EU initiative aimed at lowering trade and investment barriers.
Mr Kovacs warned the 100% scanning requirement could generate a false illusion of 100% security because EU analysis indicated it would not absolutely ensure no dangerous cargo would find its way to the United States.
The United States imports about 12 million containers filled with goods every year. Many older European ports would have to make big investments in infrastructure to accommodate scanning equipment for 20- or 40-foot steel containers.
The EU hopes to persuade Congress an alternative risk-based approach can improve container security without requiring massive new investments or creating trade bottlenecks, Mr Kovacs said.
A key element of the EU's proposal is mutual recognition of each other's secure trade initiatives known as the Customs Trade Partner Against Terrorism in the United States and the Authorized Economic Operator program in the EU.
US and EU officials agreed to work toward mutual recognition of each other's program by sometime in 2009, Mr Kovacs said. That would allow companies enrolled in one program to be automatically enrolled in the other.
