Cargo Insights: A capital field trip

[caption id="attachment_65020" align="alignright" width="350"] Brandon Fried, executive director of the U.S. Airforwarders Association[/caption] Many of us remember two primary distractions from the monotony of grade school: the occasional appearance of a substitute, always a welcome break from the iron-fisted teacher, and the occasional field trip to a museum, zoo or other venues away from school. Those outings served as memorable educational excursions and broke up the cadence of normal routines while providing value to our core objective of education. Recently, the Airforwarders Association took a field trip away from Washington, not as a school exercise, but at the request of the U.S. Senate to testify at a special field hearing in Boston and offer our candid view on air cargo security. The special hearing, “Promoting Safe Skies through Scanning and Screening: Oversight of Air Cargo Security,” was convened by U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to discuss air cargo security issues. Field hearings take place outside of the U.S. Capitol, but all Senate authority and chamber rules apply to the proceeding. Hearings like this one are the principal method by which U.S. congressional committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislation. Some hearings are convened to oversee existing laws to determine implementation progress and discover operational issues, and all hearings are made up of common elements including oral testimony from witnesses and questioning of those witnesses by members of Congress or the Senate. Industry experts were called as witnesses to examine specific topics, such as oversight of certified cargo screening facilities, screening technology, and the efficiency of the global supply chain. During the session, Markey listened and asked pointed questions to determine which current policies and initiatives are working and identify areas for improvement. The Airforwarders Association testimony presented its own insight into the current state of cargo security, current programs supporting supply chain security and efficiency, and what is necessary for future success in the industry. First, the Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) is a crucial part of the risk-based, multilayered approach to air cargo security. The program strengthens security throughout the global supply chain, while simultaneously meeting the needs of the shipping public. Without the CCSP, airfreight forwarders testified that forwarders with significant freight volumes currently screening in their facilities would rely on airlines to perform physical screenings of each piece of cargo. The result would be increased airport truck congestion, an increase in missed flights and a significant adverse impact on U.S. trade as airlines struggle to keep up with the demand to screen the cargo. The Airforwarders Association continues to support this valuable program. Cargo-screening canines are another promising security development. Specially trained dogs and their handlers can detect explosive odors down to parts per trillion and can screen at more than 20 times the speed of any technological solution because of their mobility. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began its Third-Party Private Canine Screening Program almost two years ago. Since then, canine teams have efficiently and effectively screened hundreds of tons of cargo in freight forwarding facilities without interfering with the sorting process, packaging and freight handling environment. Despite the recent success using canines in cargo screening, technology still has a definitive role in the process. Unfortunately, TSA’s vetting and certification of new technology, particularly solutions capable of scanning pallets containing multiple commodities, has stalled. Therefore, we testified that TSA must continue to support and encourage the research, development, and approvals needed for efficient and cost-effective alternatives. TSA must provide the minimum level of support to ensure that cargo security personnel receives the necessary skills, knowledge, guidance, and tools to carry out their screening responsibilities effectively. The agency must begin helping the industry in the selection of the most competent screeners. Also, TSA should provide training programs for screeners as well as competency tests before putting people on the job. There should be a readily available library housing threat-relevant updates and training opportunities for private screeners. Finally, give industry screeners access to high-quality test objects, in both physical and virtual forms, which are relevant to the current cargo security threat environment. Finally, despite efforts to the contrary, there is still progress to be made toward removing bureaucratic decision stovepipes within the TSA. Interpretation of policy and implementation of that policy should be in agreement. Security deteriorates when operators do not have a clear understanding of regulations due to inconsistent policy interpretations, and that is exactly what we’re seeing in the industry today. Our members operate offices throughout the U.S., and many TSA inspectors audit these facilities. Like any business investigated by the U.S. government, we rely on the consistent interpretation of regulations from facility to facility. TSA needs to have a reliable mechanism in place that allows regulated parties to obtain official policy guidance from TSA policy staff when the interpretation of requirements varies among individual inspectors. The agency should also improve communication of policy decisions between the Policy, Plans and Engagement Division, and its cargo security inspector workforce. Cargo operators and freight forwarders would also draw great benefit from a TSA-supported industry ombudsman position to encourage interaction between the agency and its forwarder stakeholders. Our recent trip to Boston served as a distraction from Washington’s typical political tedium. We hope that following this testimony, lawmakers listening to our views consider them not far afield. This column originally appeared in the April issue of Air Cargo World . Access the full digital issue here: https://aircargoworld.com/digital-issue/

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