In his address to the World Customs Organization's (WCO) Annual Technical Experts Group on Air Cargo Security Conference in Brussels, TIACA Secretary General Doug Brittin cautioned customs regulators against taking unilateral action to require submission of certain customs information for all air cargo shipments, in advance of aircraft departure. He said, "We recommend that all regulatory parties coordinate this process through the WCO and that they consult more closely with industry before they move forward on establishing regulations."

A similar process should be followed to establish common procedures for member states' security regulators to ensure common cargo screening methods are in place after the analysis process is completed, he said.

While country specific advance data programs have been tested by customs regulators - including ACAS in the U.S, PRECISE in Europe and PACT in Canada - and some results shared through the WCO and other venues, gaps in "global standards" remain. Brittin said the air cargo industry fully supports the concept of advance data risk analysis, stating that many positive lessons had been learned in relation to the creation of data sets, data transmission, data analysis and the message "return" process. However, he highlighted a series of challenges that must still be overcome. These, he said, included the lack of compatibility between many carrier and forwarder IT systems, inaccurate or incomplete information, wide variations in the timing of data availability, and limited testing of forwarder capabilities, especially outside of the U.S.

Another big challenge for industry, according to TIACA, is the diverse regulatory needs of customs and security regulators, ranging from information acceptance, analysis and messaging to action and physical screening. While compliance is the responsibility of both customs and security regulators both have different needs that often involve separate functions within industry management structures, the Association says.

Brittin told the WCO conference that the air cargo industry still has a number of concerns about advance data analysis, notably systems and standards are not yet established, "operational" testing is not yet sufficient in terms of getting messages to the freight dock in time, and airline and forwarder responsibilities and roles are not fully defined.

TIACA is a global not-for-profit trade association representing all the major segments of the air cargo and air logistics industry - combination and all-cargo airlines, forwarders, airports, ground handlers, road carriers, customs brokers, logistics companies, shippers, IT companies, aircraft and equipment manufacturers, trade press, and educational institutions.

Source: TIACA