Washington Wire: TSA Vows Cargo-Screening Compliance

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will meet federal deadlines to screen all cargo transported on passenger aircraft by 2010, administrator Kip Hawley vowed to the House Homeland Security Committee's transportation panel last week.
In August, Congress mandated half of the 7,500 tons of cargo transported daily be inspected by 2009 and all of it by 2010. The Government Accountability Office in 2005 concluded that only a very small percentage of cargo on passenger aircraft is inspected. Hawley said the agency already is screening 100 percent of cargo loaded at smaller airports. "We have very definitely closed down on vulnerabilities,'' he said. Some lawmakers, including Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said they were skeptical TSA would deliver, as the agency has failed to meet other deadlines, such as improving checked baggage screening and developing a program to check passenger names against terrorism watchlists. Hawley said TSA likely will make the deadline because the law permits shippers, rather than federal officials, to screen cargo.

Meanwhile, TSA this month announced it has awarded $52.3 million in new contracts for such capabilities as advanced technology X-ray, automated checkpoint explosives detection, bottled liquid scanners and a cast/prosthetic screening device. A new $1.7 million imaging device at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport can detect weapons and explosives concealed under layers of clothing without physical contact through electromagnetic waves that generate an image based on the energy reflected from the body. TSA began testing in February, and said 79 percent of Phoenix travelers have chosen to use the machine rather than have a pat-down in secondary screening.

U.S., Australia Weigh Open Skies Agreement
The United States and Australia may ink an Open Skies accord by early 2008, the governments of both countries said in a joint communiqué this month. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Australia Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile announced their intention to negotiate an expanded agreement that would increase passenger flights between the two countries. Existing U.S.-Australia Open Skies arrangements are limited to cargo services. An Open Skies agreement would permit carriers to determine service frequency, routes and prices without governmental interference, the countries said.