TIACA welcomes TSA decision to nix cargo screening reports

The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) welcomed the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) decision to lift requirements for air cargo screening reports, less than a year after calling for the regulation to be axed.

TSA has announced that it will no longer require the industry to provide air cargo screening volume reporting, a requirement that TIACA said last fall was putting strain on the industry.

“This will significantly relieve the reporting burden on industry, saving many labor and IT hours,” Doug Brittin, secretary general of TIACA, said. “All passenger carriers, and over 1,200 certified freight forwarders and shippers in the U.S., have been required to measure and provide these reports monthly. We applaud this move as a positive step towards adopting a risk-based approach vs. forensic compliance.”

Air Cargo World’s publisher is on the board of TIACA.

Last September, TIACA Chairman Oliver Evans wrote to TSA Administrator John Pistole commending the TSA’s collaborative approach to implementing security programs, and its successful implementation of 100 percent mandatory screening for all cargo on passenger planes into and out of U.S. airports.

Evans called for TSA’s screening achievement to be certified and the reporting requirement to be lifted.

“We are delighted the requirements have now been lifted,” Evans said. “This move allows industry and government to properly focus limited resources on measures that materially benefit security.”

Brittin said regular and ongoing inspections of the industry’s cargo screening processes made the reports unnecessary, and suggested the personnel and IT resources being used to fulfill the requirement could be better deployed.