Forwarders cut from TSA screening scheme for not screening
JAPANESE forwarder Kintetsu World Express and German forwarder Schenker had screening certificates revoked by the US Transportation Security Administration for certain of their facilities fail to meet air cargo inspection standards.
TSA also issued "suspension orders" on warehouses operated by Swiss-based Panalpina and New York's Concordia International Forwarding, saying they must stop screening pending an investigation.
The crackdown comes weeks after TSA ordered London-based Activair to stop screening cargo at its Indianapolis facility after company workers allegedly misrepresented cargo as screened when it was not.
Suspensions only apply to facilities and not to overall operations. The TSA has removed two forwarders' facilities from the programme, a Department of Homeland Security official told Newark's Journal of Commerce. There are 1,173 certified US screening facilities, including 564 locations operated by freight forwarders.
Last August, TSA began strict enforcement of a law requiring all cargo on passenger aircraft be screened. Airlines are responsible for cargo security, which must be done one consignment at a time by x-ray, explosive detector or physical search.
Most passenger bellyhold cargo is consolidated on unitised pallets or in air containers. No machine can yet screen consolidated consignments so each consignment must be removed and screened individually.
To meet that problem, TSA created the Certified Cargo Screening Programme so shippers, forwarders and independent third parties can get approval to screen cargo themselves before consolidation to cut costs.
TSA inspectors are now visiting facilities to ensure compliance. Inspectors have used video from closed caption television to observe warehouse workers labelling packages as screened that had not been in Dallas, the DHS official told JoC.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)
