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What New Air Cargo Security Rules Mean for Business

New air cargo inspection rules go into effect in February. Are businesses ready to comply? Does the measure go far enough?

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor

January 29, 2009 — CSO —

February will mark the start of new guidelines for air cargo. A congressional mandate issued in 2007 requires the Transportation Security Administration to screen 50 percent of all cargo on board passenger aircraft. The mandate goes further to require 100 percent inspection by August 2010.

As the deadline looms, the requirement is not without its concerns. Some companies, including fruit growers, are concerned about what the new rules will mean for their shipments, which need to happen in a timely manner. P.J. Crowley, a senior fellow and director of homeland security at American Progress, spoke with CSO about the changes, why they are necessary, and what they mean for companies.

This mandate is specifically for cargo shipped aboard passenger planes. Why is that?
There are issues when you think of A Fed Ex airplane or a UPS airplane. The question there is whether or not someone can use cargo to gain access to the plane and hijack it. But that's a separate issue. I think it is appropriate to focus on passenger airplanes because we have taken very meaningful steps to secure the passengers who go on commercial aircraft and the baggage that goes on a passenger aircraft. But there is a different standard today for cargo that goes into the same airplane. That, to me, is a gap that needs to be closed.

The imperative to focus on air cargo remains very significant. The fact is we have done a great deal for security passenger and their luggage. But we have done far less regarding air cargo. And passenger air travel is linked to global economy in a way that all cargo aircraft are not. There is a threat to cargo aircraft. But I think it's different and its lower.

Does the 50 percent goal in February go far enough?
The law says TSA should meet the 50 percent mandate by February 2009. Every indication is that they will meet that milestone. Then the law mandates 100 percent inspection by August 2010. That is going to be problematic. Getting to 100 percent will involve some things that will be beyond TSA control.

I agree with the 100 percent mandate. I think that is the right direction to go in. If we are going to interrogate every passenger that goes on an aircraft, and screen every piece of luggage that goes on, there is no reason we should treat air cargo differently. I think the focus on avaition security is certainly appropriate. Based on everything we know, when terrorists seek to attack the US or one of our allies, they either go toward passenger aviation or toward transit. Those are two most significant means through which people have been attacking the US for a number of years. So the focus is right.