TSA Says It Won't Meet 100% Screening Mandate for Inbound Cargo (Working on CBP Pilot)
Transportation Security Administration officials provided an update on the 9/11 Commission Act screening mandates1,2 and the Certified Cargo Screening Program3 at the September 10, 2009 Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC) meeting.
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The following are highlights of their comments:
TSA Says the 50% Screening Mandate is Being Met
TSA states that the 9/11 Commission Act's mandate to screen 50% of cargo (both inbound and domestic) on passenger aircraft by February 2009 is being met.
The 50% milestone was "seemingly easy" for the shipping community, noting that:
the economic downturn has caused approximately a 35% drop in the volume of cargo.
airlines invested significantly in additional technology.
Certified Cargo Screening Facilities (CCSFs) have handled some cargo screening on behalf of shippers.
TSA provided air carriers and Indirect Air Carriers (IACs) with flexibility when determining what to screen at 50% in order to help them reach their goal. Also, narrow body shipments (for which 100% screening is required) helped the equation.
Certain commodities were excluded for a limited time (until August 31, 2009).
TSA Will Not Meet 100% Screening of Inbound Cargo by Aug 2010
TSA is working towards meeting the goal of 100% screening of domestic cargo by August 2010. They believe that this mandate can be met, and emphasized that while the trade may be waiting for them to grant some type of extension, TSA does not have the power to do so.
TSA says they will not meet the 100% screening mandate of inbound (foreign) cargo by the August 2010 deadline. However, it does have certain initiatives that it is working on that will help them work towards meeting the goal.
CBP pilot. One of these initiatives includes working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use their targeting data to assess the risk involved with the freight coming in to the U.S. flying on passenger airlines. TSA will soon start a pilot with CBP to see if this will work, and if it does, it will provide them with a risk-based approach to the analysis of inbound cargo on passenger aircraft.
New ICAO standards. TSA is also working with the International Civil Aviation Organization to come up with a more "world-wide" approach to air security. TSA has proposed changes in ICAO standards to include supply chain security as part of their standards. ICAO has accepted this concept; however, nothing has yet been approved.
Harmonizing security programs. In addition, TSA is working on bilateral and multilateral agreements for the U.S. and other countries to harmonize each other's air supply chain security programs.
TSA Concerns about 100% Screening
TSA has multiple concerns about meeting the 100% screening mandate of cargo, including:
the perception that reaching 50% was "seemingly easy", thus there should be a similar result at 100%.
the difficult/complex cargo remains to be screened, as most of the shipments screened today are not skidded, etc.
an economic recovery could lead to an increase in cargo volume and the amount of cargo that needs to be screened.
insufficient availability of technology to meet industry demand.
high risk of physical inspection due to potential contamination in transit to carriers.
maintaining the integrity of shipper skids.
Industry Challenges for 100% Screening
TSA noted that it expects that the industry will face challenges in reaching the 100% cargo screening deadline, including:
all commodities will require screening, at the piece level, prior to transport.
alternate means of screening of certain commodities have been eliminated.
most air cargo is still tendered on skis/shrink wrap/banded (makes it easier for shippers to screen before skidding process before its tendered to an airline or IAC).
limited screening technology is available to meet industry's need. There is no single technology that can screen all cargo. Also, 85% of entities use Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) as their primary method of screening; however, alarm resolution for ETD (other than physical search) is challenging.
only screened freight will be freight allowed on the airplanes.
CCSP Expanded to Include All Airlines/Airports
When the CCSP was first launched, it was only available at certain airports for certain airlines. On March 1, 2009, the CCSP program was fully rolled out to the entire U.S. as well as U.S. territories. Now, all airlines and all airports may accept screened cargo from CCSFs. As of September 9, 2009, there were 462 CCSF-certified entities.
1The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-53) requires the Department of Homeland Security to establish a system to screen 50% of inbound (coming to the U.S. from a foreign country) and domestic (going within or out of the U.S.) cargo on passenger aircraft by February 2009, and 100% of such cargo by August 2010. The Act did not provide any funding and it was expected that the industry would bear all costs.
2Screening means a physical examination or nonintrusive methods of assessing whether cargo poses a threat to transportation security. Such methods of screening include X-ray systems, explosives detection systems (EDS), Explosives Trace Detection (ETD), explosives detection canine teams certified by TSA, a physical search together with manifest verification, or and any additional methods approved by the TSA Administrator.
3In this program, air cargo industry stakeholders - such as freight forwarders and shippers - voluntarily apply to become CCSFs. The program allows cargo to be screened before it is consolidated and transported to the airport. While participation in the CCSP is voluntary, once an entity is certified by TSA to participate, it must adhere to TSA screening and security requirements and be subject to annual inspections by transportation security inspectors (TSIs).
(See ITT's Online Archives or 04/08/09 news, 09040825, for BP summary of TSA testifying that it is unlikely that it will meet the deadline to screen 100% of inbound cargo.
See ITT's Online Archives or 02/11/09 news, 09021105, for BP summary of TSA testimony that it is working to align the CCSP with CBP's C-TPAT.
See ITT's Online Archives or 03/23/09 news, 09032325, for BP summary of TSA's statement that it is meeting 50% screening mandate.)