100% of Air Cargo Screening is Still Two Years Away!

The US Department of Homeland Security’s timeline for screening international air cargo arriving on passenger flights will likely take longer than initially forecasted.  The acting director of the TSA, Gail Rossides informed the House of Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee that it will be feasible for all domestic air cargo to be screened by the intended August 3^rd deadline. 

However, it is estimated that only 65% of international air cargo will be screened by the deadline.  It is likely that it will take two years for before 100% of the international cargo is being screened.  The new estimate is based on the current volume of imports  (1.5 tons annually from 97 countries).  The majority of imports (85%) come from 20 countries.

The TSA has advised the US Congress on at least 2 occasions that the deadline could not be met for internationally screenings. Warren Miller, head of the Air Cargo International Programs Branch of the TSA, shared this news recently at the airfreight security conference in Frankfurt, Germany.

The TSA has learned from its work on securing intra-US airfreight shipments that the focus should be on the supply chain, and not just solely on screening.  A long-term and layered approach based on risk targeting will be needed, but this concept has not even reached a pilot stage yet. 

As Miller says, while there is no single answer for screening, we do need to increase security without impeding the flow of commerce.  One obvious point is that precedents for risk management would be easier to implement in all-cargo freighter aircraft, rather than using the “bellyhold” cargo area of passenger flights.