Six Middle East airlines are being required by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to implement additional security protocols for air cargo being transported to the US from seven Middle East airports.
TSA is mandating the airlines comply with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) program, a pilot program in which airlines can voluntarily participate. But ACAS will no longer be voluntary for the six Middle East airlines operating from five countries (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates), according to TSA.
“These countries were chosen because of a demonstrated intent by terrorist groups to attack aviation from them,” TSA spokesperson Mike England said in an emailed statement. “TSA looks at threats emanating from each country uniquely, and cannot provide specific information about those threats, but after analyzing evaluated intelligence, we determined that we needed to expand the ACAS program within each of them at this time.”
The TSA/CBP “emergency” order affects cargo carried by EgyptAir operating out of Cairo; by Royal Jordanian operating out of Amman; by Saudia operating out of Jeddah and Riyadh; by Qatar Airways operating out of Doha; by Emirates Airline operating out of Dubai; and by Etihad Airways operating out of Abu Dhabi.
All of these airlines were also affected by the “laptop ban” imposed by the US government for four months last year.
The carriers will now be required to “submit a subset of required advance air cargo data to CBP at the earliest point practicable prior to loading of the cargo onto the aircraft destined to or transiting through the United States,” according to TSA. England said the ACAS program “leverages Department of Homeland Security (DHS) threat information and other data to employ a risk-based approach to improve air cargo security through targeted vetting.”
England cited “the incident in Australia” that occurred in 2017 as an impetus for requiring the Middle East airlines to comply with ACAS. Australian authorities said they had interrupted a plot in July 2017 to plant an explosive device on an Etihad aircraft flying out of Sydney.
Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner Michael Phelan said at an August 2017 press conference that parts for the explosive device allegedly to be used in the plot were sent to Australia via air cargo flown by an unidentified carrier from Turkey.
The alleged bomb plot in Australia “was an ominous reminder for TSA and all of our aviation partners, to include cargo carriers, that we need to continue our efforts to keep our skies secure,” England said.
ACAS was implemented by CBP as a six-month pilot program in October 2012. CBP has repeatedly extended the pilot program by six months, and has invited airlines to participate in ACAS on a voluntary basis, but has never taken the final rulemaking step to enshrine it as a mandatory regulation for airlines flying cargo to the US. “Most of the requirements outlined in this directive [to the six Middle East airlines] are already being voluntarily applied by partners around the world,” England said.
Airlines affected by the order did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
source:ATW
