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Raghu Dayal

The US Air Cargo Security Act largely formalises existing air cargo screening and `known-shipper' measures. Similar air cargo security initiatives are also being put in place in many other countries, including India.

FOLLOWING the cataclysmic airborne 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, the Aviation Security Act, passed in the US, stipulated that all-cargo airlines must operate a system that screens, inspects or otherwise ensures the security of goods aboard their aircraft.

US forwarders could face losing their licences for security violations under the new law considered by the US Congress.

The Air Cargo Security Act, otherwise Senate 165, largely formalises what is already agreed — that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) sets in place air cargo screening and `known-shipper' programmes.

The airlines already have to lock cockpit doors; soon they will install grenade-proof barriers that cost up to $50,000 each. Estimates put the price tag of security measures for airlines close to $2 billion.

Of much bigger impact is a proposal floated by Customs that information about each and every air cargo shipment be supplied to it 12 hours before take-off for regular cargo and eight hours for express, an idea similar to the 24-hour notification rule introduced for sea freight. The 12-hour rule caused howls of consternation in the air cargo industry.

The reporting of data 8 to 12 hours prior to lading will require a fundamental change to the way the air cargo industry operates. Implementing such timeframes would require that goods be held in airport warehouse facilities that were not designed to accommodate high-volume longer term storage.

Security is essentially a global need because many supply-chains by their very nature are international. Avoidable restrictions would harm air trade. It is imperative that caution be exercised to ensure that security barriers do in no way become trade barriers. US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta sought to allay the concerns, saying security measures would be "checkpoints, not chokepoints". Air cargo globally accounts for 40 per cent of world trade by value or $2 trillion. A delay of only five percent will add at least $100 billion to shippers' inventories.

America has also tightened up its requirement for passenger information. Foreign airlines must transmit passenger manifests within 15 minutes of departure or risk fines of up to $6,000 per passenger. Before September 11, America inspected only 5 per cent of checked baggage and used only 33 armed guards, known as sky marshals, to protect sensitive flights. Now all one billion bags checked on to international flights in America each year are (supposed to be) inspected.

Everyone in the air cargo industry is effectively going to have to adopt Cargo 2000-like processes, whether they are in Cargo 2000 or not. In an ideal world, this would be adopting new computer systems, and RFID (radio frequency identification — microchips that transmit data to an antenna) tagging of all shipments. Companies such as DHL Express and WalMart are well down the road to implementing it.

Cameras equipped with facial recognition software can pick out known criminals in a crowd at airports, stadiums, and public plazas. Cars and cell phones equipped with local technology make it possible to track down people within about 10 feet. X-ray machines that can see through people's clothes may be more widely deployed at airports, government buildings, and even corporate lobbies. Traditional defence contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Unisys — far more experienced than an average tech firm at the sometimes byzantine ways of government procurement — are also cashing in. The Transportation Security Administration awarded a $1.4 billion contract to Boeing Co. and Siemens to install and maintain explosive-detection devices and to train 30,000 baggage screeners.

Lockheed Martin bagged a $350-million TSA award to integrate all security measures at the 429 largest US airports. New Jersey's Newark-Elizabeth Seaport started using $850,000 machine that scans a container truck in seconds. On its part, the Government of India proposes to register only the `Regulated Agents', who have been in existence for five years and hold at least three years of experience in the air cargo business. The regulated agent has to strictly follow the security norms and standards laid down by COSCA (Commissioner of Security, Civil Aviation). The agent is expected to install an X-ray machine and necessary electronic equipment for screening the cargo, also to get all his security personnel vetted by the BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security).

Parliament has passed the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2000 which enhances the penalty under 11A from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10 lakh for not complying with the directions of the Director General of Civil Aviation or Commissioner of Security, Civil Aviation.

The duly trained and certified security employees of the regulated agent will undertake the handling and security of the cargo from the time of its receipt till its delivery to the air carrier. Such security-controlled items will be transported to the airport or the warehouse of the air carrier by the agent in a sealed container or trucks under appropriate surveillance.

The agent also has to give to the airline a written declaration certifying that the cargo delivered by it has been subjected to prescribed security controls and that the consignments do not contain any "dangerous goods" as defined in the technical instructions.

The agent will also maintain a permanent record of security regulations such as 24-hour cooling, X-ray and physical examination of cargo. A copy of this certificate has to be handed over to the airline along with the cargo.

(The author is a former Managing Director, CONCOR.)

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