More noses needed for air cargo screening

The air cargo industry is urging Capitol Hill lawmakers to keep up pressure on the Transportation Security Administration to expand its freight screening capabilities through the use of third-party explosive detection canine teams.    The air cargo industry is urging Capitol Hill lawmakers to keep up pressure on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to expand its freight screening capabilities through the use of third-party explosive detection canine teams.
   “The technology to screen freight in a manner consistent with the operational needs of the industry simply does not today exist,” said Stephen Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association, in testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee’s transportation and protective security subcommittee on Tuesday. “However, the ‘low tech’ use of canines can fill this gap.”
   TSA has maintained a pool of specially trained dogs to detect explosives hidden in shipments, but their numbers remain woefully short to properly oversee an expansive air cargo industry. 
   “Since there are not enough canines owned by the TSA to accomplish this objective, we continue to urge TSA to establish a program whereby TSA would establish standards that would be used by third-party vendors and certify other third-parties to ensure that the vendors are, in fact, correctly applying the standards established,” Alterman explained.
   Once approved, these third-party vendors could provide the dogs to stakeholders wishing to use them, such as the air carriers, at their expense.
   Alterman added that TSA would oversee the program to ensure that the contractors comply with the agency’s requirements. 
   TSA first tested the concept of using third-party canines for explosive detection in air cargo during a 2011 pilot program. The agency placed the program on hold when the canine teams failed to demonstrate “reliable conformity to TSA performance standards,” said Bart Elias, an aviation policy specialist with the Congressional Research Service, in testimony to the House subcommittee. 
   While TSA has since rekindled its efforts toward using third-party explosive detecting canines, Alterman warned the House subcommittee that the need today for this type of service is becoming “more urgent.”
   Alterman praised the House Homeland Security Committee for including language mandating a third-party canine program for TSA in the Department of Homeland Security authorization bill (H.R. 2825). The legislation overwhelmingly passed the House last week and is now awaiting action in the Senate.