The new screening process may cause freight to stay in airports for long periods of time. (Photo: Stock File)

New cargo rule may damage perishable food

UNITED STATES
Thursday, December 03, 2009, 23:40 (GMT + 9)

Perishable food wholesalers are concerned that their products will face spoilage at airports due to a security regulation that goes into effect next year requiring crates to be checked for bombs before boarding passenger airplanes.

Boxes of fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood might have to wait in airport warehouses for hours before going on the plane. The food would lose its freshness and possibly become unhygienic as cargo handlers stack them and check for bombs, according to Chris Connell of Commodity Forwarders, a firm that transports perishables.

It’s possible that airport warehouses will become congested with shipments and "have to shut their doors because they won't be able to keep up with screening," Harvey Waite of transporter Oceanair said, USA Today reports.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be introducing a 2007 law mandating that cargo be screened before joining passengers’ luggage on planes – which transport a daily 12 million lbs of freight of various types in the US alone.

"It's possible" that the new screening process may cause freight to stay in airports for extended periods of time before being loaded onto passenger planes, TSA Assistant Administrator John Sammon acknowledged.

Only some freight is currently being screened; starting in January, however, goods being transported from Alaska and Hawaii must undergo screening before going on passenger planes.

"There's absolutely no way all this cargo can be screened at the airport," said Jan Koslosky of Alaska-based Ocean Beauty Seafoods, which runs seven fish-processing plants in the state.

Almost 60 per cent of US seafood comes from Alaska’s fishing industry.

The new law requires private companies – not the TSA – to perform the screening. The agency will instead only be responsible for certifying and supervising the companies’ work, even though the administration has been scanning luggage since 2002.

Sammon insists that the airline and cargo handlers, who are purchasing equipment to scan for bombs in their warehouses, will be unable to do the work in a timely fashion. The agency is asking manufacturers and distributors to prevent delays by taking part in a new programme that requires employee background checks and other strict security rules that will allow them to fulfil screening regulations.

Although Alaska seafood processors have begun joining the programme, Koslosky is sceptical that there will be adequate screening capacity to handle the enormous salmon harvest that begins in May, letting 50-lb boxes of the fish go bad in storage.

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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