e-Newsletter

Issue 28

    3. TSA Directs Cargo Security



Air cargo security in the United States started to take shape with the Transportation Security Administration's release of new directions to the industry last month along with a strategic plan to ensure "that the entire air cargo supply chain is secure."

From airlines to forwarders, freight operators said they could live with requirements that include some random screening of cargo on passenger planes, targeted inspection of shipments deemed risky and new orders for foreign freighter operators to have security plans if they come into the country.

" This Strategic Plan details a multi-phased, risk-based blueprint for implementing a comprehensive air cargo security approach by applying existing capabilities and pursuing emerging technologies," said Adm. James Loy, the TSA administrator.

TSA rejected the 100 percent screening that some members of Congress have pushed for, saying "limitations of technology and infrastructure make such an undertaking impractical.'' Instead, the agency said it would take a "layered" approach that has some cargo fully screened and other shipments assessed through methods such as the known shipper program. There are also new directives on securing freighters and cargo facilities.

" This is a measured and intelligent approach, one that will create a more secure environment while allowing the flow of commerce to continue," said Stephen Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association.

That wasn't how advocates of full screening saw it. "The Bush administration shouldn't be playing Russian roulette or, more appropriately in this case, al Qaeda roulette, with the security of passengers on American planes," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

There are essentially two categories of directives. One is aimed at passenger airlines and requires they screen a percentage of cargo on a random basis.

TSA did not disclose the percentage to be screened but industry officials have generally said they expected the share to be 10 percent of their overall cargo traffic.

Another set of directives is aimed at cargo on freighters and includes a requirement that large shipments capable of carrying stowaways be inspected. That was a response to the bizarre incident this fall in which a man shipped himself in a box that carried him on a freighter.

The directives come as the country's shippers and carriers brace for new prior notification rules for imports of foodstuffs that take effect Dec. 12. Those rules, separate from prior notice directives from the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Security, include requirements that companies that ship food to the United States register with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

There was a hint of possible chaos to come in Miami last month as freight piled up at the airport and ocean port after a rule requiring prior notice of in-bond shipments took effect, leaving customs overloaded and shippers steaming.

Screening until now has been relatively unstructured. The airlines may use dogs to screen mail and the passenger otherwise rely on the "known shipper" program, which allows them to accept freight only from shippers that have been identified by operators with certified security programs.

SOURCE:
http://www.aircargoworld.com/news/#a