TSA prepares for airfreight regs

TSA prepares for airfreight regs Forwarders need to be ready for December implementation
   One week after the arrests in the London airline terror plot, Brian Abbott was far from feeling complacent.
   Abbott, the air cargo manager for the Transportation Security Administration at Miami International Airport'the original destination airport on 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid's infamous flight from Paris'was just winding up what had been an especially hectic week. For TSA officials at Miami and other airports around the U.S., it had been a week of hastily implementing new security precautions related to the case in London.
   Approaching the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which led to the creation of the TSA, Abbott stresses that the world of commercial aviation has forever changed, and will continue to change in unexpected ways.

Brian Abbott, the cargo manager for the TSA at Miami International Airport, addresses the Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association in Miami. (FCBF photo)

   'You never know what's going to happen next,' Abbott said when he was the featured speaker at the August 16 meeting of the Florida Customer Brokers and Forwarders Association, adding, 'Before 9/11, it was always 'over there' where these things were happening. But now we know it can happen right here.'
   Although the security situation can change within the course of a single day, for air freight, regulatory changes have been in the works over the last three years, culminating in a series of new regulations that will take effect later this year.
   For freight forwarders and others in support services for air cargo moves, Abbott warns that the time is rapidly approaching for the final implementation of security regulations covering their role as 'indirect air carriers.'
   The rules are considered a security milestone by the TSA. They include the guidelines for the centralization of the 'known shipper' system, guidelines for background checks of the freight forwarder workforce, and standardized training guidelines.
   All told, the new regulations will serve as a guidebook, or perhaps a rule book, for the establishment of mandatory 'security programs.'
   The TSA published final rules for air cargo security on May 26. While the so-called effective date of the new rules is October 23, there are two other key implementation dates. The compliance date for indirect air carrier (IAC) training requirements is November 22. By December 1, all indirect air carriers must hold a sanctioned TSA security program that meets the new TSA standards.
   'You need to get a program in place with the TSA,' Abbott told forwarders in Miami. 'It is very important to understand that the new rules are the basic foundation you need to clear a (security) program through the TSA.'
   Quick background. Like most of the rules that govern the operations for forwarders and brokers, there are key sets of regulations that will become part of the standard industry jargon.
   In this case, that would be Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR), and in particular sections 1540 (general rules for civil aviation) and 1548, which covers the IACs.
   Other new lingo creeping into the industry vocabulary are code phrases include SSI (sensitive security information) and STA (security threat assessment).
   So, for example, air forwarders will need to get an STA on all of their employees with unescorted access in secure areas. And employers will need to be careful after obtaining STAs, because that needs to be secured in their databases under an SSI classification.
   Although many businesses will be pushing against a fairly sharp learning curve to get their security programs in place, Abbott pointed out that the private sector was largely responsible for providing the specifics of the regulations.
   'This was mostly shaped by the industry,' Abbott commented, noting that the TSA received some 650 formal comments from airfreight interests before the new rules were written.

   Know the workforce. Perhaps the most basic and important element of the new security guidelines is the need to know who is working for your company.
   That is why the TSA will require companies to conduct security threat assessments of employees.
   'Who don't know who is building up the cargo,' Abbott said about the current situation.
   Just as companies have always had to take precautions against theft, now they need to consider the possibility of terrorist actions.
   'If they can take something out, they can put something in,' Abbott noted. 'You need to know who is touching your cargo.'
   There have been some industry concerns about just how strict the federal government will be when it comes to background check on workers, with worries that anyone with any kind of arrest record will be eliminated for working in the industry for life.
   Abbott said that for the most part, the TSA is looking for people with some kind of terrorist connection.
   The government has a watch list of those people, and the first check is to make sure someone on the list does not end up loading airfreight shipments.
   The Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC) now being finalized'although the program has been delayed once more this summer'has a specific list of criminal offenses that would prohibit a worker from receiving credentials. The emphasis is on restricting workers or potential employees that have been convicted of murder, espionage, acts of terrorism, or crimes involving explosive devices.
   Besides checking out the workforce, the new regulations will set standards for checking out cargo. Shippers must consent to screening and inspection of cargo. Screening means a general evaluation of who is shipping cargo and what that cargo includes. An actual inspection would be physically checking to cargo to make sure what is inside.
   A key element is the known shipper program, a database of shippers that have been checked out and cleared. IACs will need to be up to speed on how to get known shipper verifications.
   For the most part, the known shipper requirements will be the same whether cargo is moving on an all-cargo airline or in the belly of passenger flights.
   With the new database in place, the system will be able to tell IACs whether cargo can be accepted or not.
   Abbott said one area that IACs need to work on is the training program, which will require annual updates.
   He also warned about comparatively minor administrative and procedural items.
   For example, he told FCBF members to be sure that each company has a specific contact person.
   'We need to know who the security coordinator is if we have to contact someone at 2 a.m.,' Abbott said, referring back to his own wake-up call the day of the London arrests.
   For companies with questions, most of the information is available on the Internet. Abbott suggested companies Google '49 CFR' and enter section numbers, such as 1548 for IACs.
   While Abbott conceded there is apprehension about the new rules, he stressed that this is not an 'us versus them' situation. Instead, he believes, there is a real need for all parties to work together for security in the post-9/11 world.
         'We're not the enemy. The war on terror is indeed asymmetrical, presenting a challenge for all of us,' he commented.