US screening requirements will severely affect SA shippers

South African freight forwarders will be severely affected by the US-led legislation concerning security of cargo on passenger airplanes, according to Bernard Crimes, security expert at HAB International. Crimes says the US-driven security screening requirements are also being enforced by the British government, and their implications for the freight industry could be severe, resulting not only in increased costs but also additional time taken to deliver goods around the world. He said in August last year the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had called for the establishment of a system to physically screen 100% of cargo on passenger aircraft. This affects all cargo entering the United States. Crimes says that the regulations call for the use of TSA-approved X-ray systems and strongly encourage the use of dual-view X-ray systems. However, if a single view system is used, the item has to be rotated and screened twice – the second time from a different angle. “Dual view machines are expensive, and when the laws calling for a look at a parcel twice from a different view are adopted, it means a slower process. But this is more economical than having to recapitalise X-ray scanning machines,” he says. In March the TSA issued new security directives regarding screening of cargo on passenger airplanes that originate, transit, or transfer cargo shipments from non- US locations and that fly to US locations and or interests overseas. Aircraft operators were to have implemented the measures set forth by March 10 but they will come into effect by December 12. The European Union and Britain’s Department for Transport are also implementing similar legislation while in the US Delta Airlines is already using the TSA-approved dual-view Rapiscan 638DV as its preferred cargo inspection technology. “As one of three global players in the world in this industry, we don’t make the rules in terms of what has to be done but we have the machines though which organisations have to comply with international requirements,” says Crimes.