TSA Plans To Screen All Passenger Plane Cargo

April 11, 2008

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The U.S. Transportation Security Administration says it expects to begin screening all passenger airplane cargo for the first time this summer.

The effort could lead to longer delivery times for packages shipped through the air but it also seeks to close in on millions of packages now carried without being checked for explosives.

TSA said a key part of its plan, one that could cause problems, calls on packing companies to volunteer to screen cargo they deliver to airports. Companies that sign up will have to buy and run screening machines and follow TSA regulations.

Rep. Markey Questions Screening Plan

The lawmaker behind the mandate that requires the Transportation Security Administration to screen 100 percent of air cargo loaded in the bellies of passenger planes has some serious questions about the agency’s recently unveiled solution.

“If cargo is screened before it reaches the airport, which appears to be a central element of TSA’s plans to comply with the law, how will it be sealed to prevent tampering,” Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. asked in a statement released Thursday.

“It remains unclear whether a secure chain of custody can be established to make certain that bombs or other dangerous items are not inserted into cargo after screening occurs,” said Markey, a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The TSA recently began rolling out the certified cargo screening program, which allows shippers to conduct their own inspections before cargo reaches the airport.

Markey, along with Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether the program meets the standards of the law.

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