What Does the TSA 100% Deadline Mean For Europe?

July 26, 2012

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that it has set a deadline for passenger air carriers to conduct 100 percent air cargo screening on international flights bound for the United States. Air cargo is essential to global sourcing, manufacturing and assembling, and, without secure distribution, countries would suffer economically. It is therefore imperative that speed and accuracy of cargo security scanning remains at a high standard.
From December 3, 2012, all cargo shipments loaded on passenger aircraft must undergo screening for explosives. This will require all containers and freights to be completely security screened either before they are delivered to the airport for distribution or at the airport before departure. 

The current requirement is for the screening of 50 percent of air cargo bound for the USA. This means that air cargo companies now have to double their screening capacity in order to maintain current levels of throughput and comply with the new regulations. This has to be achieved in just a few short months in order to meet the TSA deadline and, with air cargo traffic due to triple over the next 20 years, freight companies and airports may be challenged to cope with the extra security screening workload.

Air cargo companies now need to deploy and utilise security screening technologies and procedures that not only assist airport security staff in effectively identifying potential dangers, but also are approved by both the TSA and the EU, who have recently finalised an agreement on cargo screening regulations. These two factors are essential to enable air cargo companies outside of the US to comply with the upcoming cargo screening deadline, as over a million tonnes of cargo is transported from Europe to North America every year.

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