U.S. GOVERNMENT BEGINS FOCUS ON AIR CARGO SECURITY
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration is ready to turn its attention to air cargo security now that it has put systems in place to screen airline passengers and their checked baggage, Adm. James Loy, undersecretary for transportation security, testified before a Senate panel Wednesday.
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act passed by Congress 14 months ago requires the screening of all air cargo using explosive detection systems, but did not set a specific deadline for doing so as it did with checked baggage.
TSA, which will transfer from the Department of Transportation to Homeland Security in one month, has established a working group to develop requirements for a mandatory cargo security program, Loy said in prepared remarks to the Commerce, Science and Transportation aviation subcommittee.
'An important part of this effort is our outreach to the cargo industry. To the extent possible, we will build on many of the security measures they have already adopted,' Loy said.
He did not set a timetable for implementing phases of the program, but pointed out that the Bush administration's budget for 2004 requests $30 million for an air cargo security pilot program. Two-thirds of that amount would be dedicated to developing a risk management system for screening packages and setting up a program to validate cargo from trusted shippers that employ approved security processes.
Loy also said TSA is working with industry to find out whether it is safe for airlines to carry certain classes of mail that were prohibited from passenger aircraft in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He said the agency has implemented a canine detection pilot program at four major airports to test this type of screening as a possible alternative to prohibiting certain weight mail on passenger carriers.
The federal government estimates that 12.5 million tons of cargo is transported per year, 9.7 million tons of which goes on cargo planes. But a report by the General Accounting Office last month stated that air cargo, especially the 2.8 million tons carried in the bellies of commercial passenger planes, remains highly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. It cited the lack of security procedures by some airlines and freight forwarders, as well as the potential for tampering with freight during the time it leaves the shipper and gets loaded on the aircraft.
Kenneth Meade, DOT's inspector general, told the subcommittee that explosive detection devices for cargo are bulkier and could cost up to $10 million, more than 10 times the cost of machines used to screen checked baggage.
'For the time being there are not many attractive emerging technology options available for screening cargo. Almost any credible scenario involves breaking palletized or other bulk shipped cargo into its smaller component parts for screening,' Meade said.
One possible solution, he suggested, is to adapt technology used to screen cargo containers at the border or at ports to check air cargo.