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SCOTT JAGOW: Four years ago, Congress passed a measure that required port workers to carry tamper-proof photo IDs. The program was supposed to be in place by the end of this year. But there are problems. Marketplace's Hillary Wicai reports.

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HILLARY WICAI: Imagine a security card carried by about 750,000 longshoreman, truck drivers and rail workers — the people who make the nation's ports hum.

But tests on a prototype show it sometimes wrongly says a worker is a security risk, among other problems.

Marc Mac Donald is with the Pacific Maritime Association. He says his group is a little concerned that the much-anticipated program might be delayed.

MARC MACDONALD: But we're more concerned that the TWIC program is developed and orchestrated correctly.

Terminal operators will have to install the necessary infrastructure.

One Virginia port estimates it could cost them nearly $6 million, and that doesn't count the potential cost of slowing down business.

The cards themselves will cost each worker about $150.

In Washington, I'm Hillary Wicai for Marketplace.