By Calvin Biesecker
With less than three months to go before the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will enforce a mandate that all cargo shipped on passenger planes departing from an airport in the United States be screened for explosives, the agency is warning businesses that if they want to participate in the Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) by the Aug. 1 enforcement deadline they need to apply by June 1.
Applying by June 1 gives TSA two months to prepare businesses to be certified cargo screeners under CCSP, just enough time to meet the Aug. 1 deadline when the 100 percent air cargo screening mandate goes into effect. It’s taking about 60 days to complete the certification process, the agency said yesterday as part of a webinar it hosted to encourage manufacturers to get involved with CCSP.
TSA initiated the CCSP program about two years ago as a voluntary means to spread the responsibility for screening air cargo throughout the supply chain, including manufacturers, freight forwarders and air carriers to avoid bottlenecks.
A lot of air carriers are already nearing their capacity to do the screening themselves, Don Basso, a principal cargo security analyst with TSA, said on the webinar. TSA employs its cargo security analysts to help participants through the CCSP process.
TSA has good participation from air carriers and freight forwarders in the CCSP program but needs more shippers involved, Basso said. Shippers are typically manufacturers.
“Our concern is that not enough unique commodity and high volume shippers have a plan,” Basso said.
Unique commodities may include pharmaceuticals and toxic products that a shipper can’t afford to have someone else open if it alarms during the screening process or the integrity of the product might be jeopardized.
The costs for most shippers to become CCSP certified are usually low, that’s because manufacturers can often physically screen their packages before closing and sealing them rather than have to invest in screening technology, TSA says.
Bio-Technology firm Genentech, which ships its pharmaceuticals globally from U.S. airports, only had to invest $6,000 total across four manufacturing facilities in the country as part of its efforts to achieve CCSP certification, Sean O’Neill, the logistics manager at Genentech, said on the webinar. Most of that investment was for signage, he said. Genentech is part of Switzerland-based pharmaceutical giant Roche Group.
Come Aug. 1, if cargo bound for an air carrier hasn’t been screened, it won’t be loaded onto the plane, Basso said, reaffirming a commitment by the Department of Homeland Security that the mandate will be strictly enforced.
TSA has been hosting a series of town halls and webinars this year as part of an aggressive outreach effort to educate the trade community about their options ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline. As of May 1, air carriers were responsible for ensuring that at least 75 percent of the cargo they are carrying has been screened for explosives.