Shippers campaign against full screening of cargo on planes
agreement they reached in 1979 after a mail bomb blew up on an American Airlines flight, congressional investigators reported in 1994.
In 2007 a coalition of more than a dozen business groups lobbied against requiring close inspections of packages, arguing in a letter to then-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), that applying the same rules to passenger baggage and air cargo would set “an unachievable standard.”
Only in August, nine years after 9/11, did the United States require that all cargo be screened on U.S. passenger flights. That rule drew heavy lobbying from airlines, air cargo carriers, and trade groups. They devoted at least $32 million last year and $28 million so far this year to lobbying in Washington on that and other matters.
The air transportation industry, meanwhile, donated at least $8.3 million to congressional candidates in the 2009-10 election cycle, split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans, an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found.
The TSA, carrying out a 2007 law requiring the screening of all cargo on passenger planes within three years, decided that starting last August it would mandate the screening of cargo on passenger planes loaded in the United States. It said its rule would not apply to cargo placed on U.S.-bound passenger flights overseas, or to cargo-only flights.
In leaving cargo loaded onto passenger flights outside the United States from the August requirement, the agency said it would work with other countries to try to standardize screening requirements and apply “risk assessment” to cargo headed for the United States.
That decision drew praise from the International Air Cargo Association, whose members include FedEx, UPS, and other major shippers.
The industry has long contended that requiring the careful inspection of every package would cost too much and take too long. Its companies want to be able to screen items quickly and they want the government to bear as much of the cost as possible.
The Obama administration announced new cargo rules Monday banning freight out of Yemen and Somalia. It also restricted the shipment of printer and toner cartridges weighing more than a pound on all passenger flights and some cargo flights. The overall cargo security rules were unchanged.
The announcement came after DHS secretary Janet Napolitano held a conference call last Wednesday with cargo industry giants FedEx, UPS, German-based shipper Deutsche Post DHL AG, and Netherlands-based TNT. On the call, Napolitano “underscored her commitment to partnering with the shipping industry to strengthen cargo security,” her agency said.
The Washington Times writes that the air cargo industry is not short of political connections. FedEx spent $19 million lobbying from January through September alone; its chief executive, Frederick W. Smith, raised campaign money for Republican President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama’s 2008 GOP rival, Senator John McCain, and has made the White House guest lists of at least three presidents: Obama, Bush, and Bill Clinton.
FedEx and UPS have served on various federal agency advisory panels over the years, and the head of the Cargo Airline Association has been part of an aviation security advisory committee. Association lobbyist Gina Ronzello used to work for the U.S. Transportation Department’s inspector general, with a focus on aviation issues, and was a congressional aide. A Bush administration Customs and Border Protection official, Michael Mullen, lobbied last year for the Express Association of America, whose members included FedEx, UPS, DHL, and TNT.
