The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and US Customs and Border Protection are moving forward with their joint Air Cargo Advance Screening (Acas) pilot programme, according to TSA administrator John Pistole.
He reiterated airfreight’s vulnerability to a terrorist attack, and believes the ability to provide shipment-level data prior to takeoff will help the airfreight industry mitigate risk.
“The more intelligence that we can have on the front end, the better informed judgments we can make as to distinguish between known shippers and shipments by those who are unknown,” Pistole said. “If we can make decisions on the front end [about a particular parcel], then we can do a better job of working together to [block it from the flight].”
Some insiders believe the Acas pilot programme could be the industry’s answer to meeting the TSA’s goal of 100% screening of US-bound freight, reports Air Cargo World. A three-phased, voluntary initiative, Acas allows parties to submit electronic data about a parcel prior to shipment; that way, high-risk freight can be identified, according to a press release issued by the TSA.
Pistole hopes to take this approach one step further in the future. “Eventually, our goal is to use this methodology across the board as we seek to quickly and effectively perform solid, risk-based analysis of not only all shippers, but also of every shipment entering the US by air, regardless of the carrier,” he added.
