Customs seeks new security filing for air cargo

Customs seeks new security filing for air cargo    The recent al Qaeda plot to hide plastic explosive powder in printer cartridges shipped on U.S.-bound cargo planes has the Department of Homeland Security scrambling to revise its security protocols so that shipments can be assessed and, if necessary, held for inspection before they are loaded onto a plane.
   The key to such a capability is obtaining pre-departure shipment information.
   Contrary to general perception, U.S. Customs and Border Protection isn't seeking to push back the time at which air carriers must electronically file the cargo manifest. Instead, the agency believes that obtaining a subset of the manifest data in advance could enhance its ability to assess security risks without unduly burdening the air cargo industry, according to an agency official close to the policy deliberations.
   Airlines are required under current law to electronically transmit their manifest data to CBP four hours prior to arrival or at 'wheels up' for locations closer than four hours from the United States. The manifest includes:
   ' Master and house air waybill numbers for consolidated shipments.
   ' Trip/flight number.
   ' Carrier code.
   ' Airport of arrival.
   ' Airport of origin.
   ' Scheduled date of arrival.
   ' Total quantity of pieces.
   ' Total weight.
   ' Precise cargo description.
   ' Shipper name and address.
   ' Consignee name and address.
   The data is ostensibly used to identify shipments of potential concern by matching their characteristics against various risk factors. Shipments that generate a red flag are subjected to non-intrusive technical, or physical, inspections upon arrival.
   U.S. and European intelligence officials reportedly believe the terrorists in the recent plot intended for the bombs to go off while the cargo planes were flying over the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Bersin

   CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin and John Pistole, the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, said in joint testimony before a Senate panel on Nov. 16 that they expect to launch some demonstration programs for collecting advance air shipment data by the end of the year.
   They did not say how long the demonstration programs would last nor when a recommendation for seeking earlier information would be presented to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Napolitano

   Soon after the bomb plot was foiled, DHS officials indicated they were working with express delivery companies and other airlines to find a way to obtain data from the manifest, and possibly new data elements, before departure. Among the issues to be resolved are:
   ' What data is available pre-departure.
   ' How early air carriers can get complete and reliable data from their customers.
   ' Which parties have the data.
   ' How to notify a freight forwarder or carrier not to load a shipment in the event of an alarm.
   ' How law enforcement officials in a foreign country can be enlisted to help resolve whether a package poses a threat.
   CBP is only interested in obtaining a few of the data elements on the manifest that are generally known earlier in the shipping process — such as the cargo description and relevant addresses — that can be run through an automated targeting system for pre-departure risk assessment, said the source, who spoke on background because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
   The other half of the manifest data specific to the flight the cargo is arriving on is generally not available until the plane is ready to take off and is not being sought any sooner.
   'We're not looking to take the existing manifest and back that up, but require those data elements that really have the targeting value and make sure we get those' as a separate security filing, the official said.
   The information would still come from the carriers, unlike the advance security filing now required from importers in the ocean container arena.
   Any filing deadlines could differ to accommodate different types of business models within the air cargo industry, according to the CBP source.
   CBP will have two pilot programs ' one for express carriers and the other for passenger airlines — to gauge what data is available and when it accessible, as well as other operational mechanics. Several carriers have volunteered to participate in the pilot programs and technical staffs are working out the necessary information technology connections, data elements, message formats and targeting rules to move ahead, the official said.
   Dual data streams are necessary because express carriers such as FedEx, UPS, DHL and TNT are integrated logistics companies that deal directly with regular shipping customers, have trucking networks, consolidation hubs, and their own aircraft. That means they get information from tendered shipments very early, and maintain control of it throughout the process. Passenger airlines tend to partner with freight forwarders, who are middlemen for the shippers trying to find the most cost-effective or expedited carrier. Forwarders often subcontract with ground transportation companies or other service providers, which adds layers to the cargo handling and document preparation processes.
   The official said a separate pilot for heavyweight all-cargo carriers is not necessary because they tend to follow either the express consignment model and deal directly with shippers or deal with freight forwarders in the same way as passenger airlines.
   A second part of the pilots, which will take longer to set up than the IT component, will focus on response protocols — such as replying with 'do not load' messages and setting up inspections for shipments that score above pre-determined risk thresholds.

Pistole

   Bersin and Pistole testified that one of the challenges to simply pushing back the manifest deadline is that small carriers in some parts of the world are not fully electronic.
   According to industry experts, many shipments come from countries with limited Internet access or from forwarders that don't have electronic capability. The shipments, for example, can be moved on the first leg by a local courier and transferred to a larger airline at a major airport. The small express company or forwarder may fill out a paper manifest or house airway bill, which requires the second airline, or a third-party filing service, to manually input the information for transmission.
   Another complication is that house bills in other languages must be translated into English before they can be sent along with the carrier's master airway bill to CBP.
   The problem for the forwarder is that the airline may not have created a master airway bill number that soon. Forwarders must put the master bill number on their house manifest as a cross reference because CBP's computers use the number to match up the master bill with the sub bills so the agency knows which plane the shipment flew on.
   'There's certainly a strong sense of urgency on this whole issue,' said Michael Mullen, executive director of the Express Association of America. 'I think people really want to test out what's in the realm of the possible.'
   He said there have been no discussions yet on what the end state would be other than a general sense that any rule would have to be codified in some way if it is to become a permanent change. ' Eric Kulisch