By Calvin Biesecker
In the wake of a foiled terror plot that involved shipping on aircraft two bombs concealed in packages ultimately destined for the United States, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) yesterday asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a report assessing progress and challenges related to screening and securing U.S.-bound air cargo.
In the letter, which was co-signed by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), chairman of the panel’s subcommittee on transportation security, Thompson seeks answers to three questions, including the “extent” to which Department of Homeland Security policy and procedures “foster the screening of all U.S. bound cargo on passenger aircraft” and what are the challenges to doing so.
In August, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) met a congressional deadline requiring that all cargo be screened for explosives before it is loaded on passenger aircraft taking off from domestic airports. The same legislation required this year that all cargo destined for the U.S. on international flights also be screened for explosives before loading. However, TSA has said it does not expect to meet the international requirement until 2013 due to the difficulty in working out agreements with foreign governments on this aviation security matter.
Media reports say that the packages containing the bombs, one of which was found in Britain and the other in Qatar, were expected to be delivered to the United States on all- cargo planes, one operated by United Parcel Service [UPS] and the other by FedEx [FDX]. Both parcels originated in Yemen and were dropped off for shipping with UPS and FedEx, respectively.
While freight carried on all-cargo planes is not covered by the congressional air cargo security legislation, TSA and Customs and Border Protection do try to identify high-risk cargo to be scanned for explosives once it reaches the United States.
Thompson is also asking GAO how DHS employees overseas are used to assess the terrorist threat to the United States and to cargo security and how these employees are used to enhance security on U.S.-bound flights.
The GAO will also review the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures for identifying and screening high-risk U.S.-bound cargo and how well current procedures are for the screening of shrink-wrapped and palletized air cargo.
The U.S. currently has not certified any screening technology for palletized cargo. Even if it did, the systems are expected to be costly, which might make it prohibitive for most airlines and freight forwarders to purchase without government assistance, according to industry officials.