100pc screening of cargo creates new fears

AIR cargo shippers and forwarders have raised concerns that increasing demand during the autumn shipping season will strain screening capabilities in the coming months, including the ability to keep up a brisk screening pace.

"It's going to get much worse in the next few months," said Tom Lewandowski, manager of logistic operations for Geodis Global Solutions, according to the Journal of Commerce. "We may not even recognise a security delay versus a capacity delay."

The response follows the successful implementation of a US federal government mandate to screen 100 per cent of all cargo carried onboard US passenger aircraft by August 1.

The report said that despite fears over potential delays, "the transition went smoothly and the air cargo industry has already moved onto the next hurdle."

Although the TSA estimates 60 per cent of inbound international cargo already is being scanned, an integrated, equivalent international screening network is the next step in supply chain security, with a target date of 2013.
(Source:www.schednet.com)