Air cargo screening simplified

OTTAWA: Canada and the US have agreed to new procedures for screening cargo being transported by air between the two countries.

Any cargo being transported between the two countries via passenger aircraft will only require one screening, to be done at the point of origin, even if that cargo is later to be transferred to a different aircraft in the importing country in order to complete its routing.

Besides its agreement with Canada, the US has also entered into a similar agreement with the European Union. The European Commission and the US Transportation Security Administration now recognize each others’ air cargo security programs.

According to a joint statement issued by the two agencies, “the US-EU cargo security agreement means that the US recognizes the equivalency and effectiveness of EU cargo security regimes as applied in all 27 EU countries and Switzerland. This will allow all air carriers flying out of the EU and Switzerland to apply EU security measures as a means of complying with US law. Similarly, the EU recognizes the equivalence of the US air cargo security regime which will allow cargo flying from the US into the EU and Switzerland not to be subjected to additional EU security measures at US airports.”