The  USA's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued an emergency order requiring stricter scrutiny of air cargo coming from seven airports in five countries — Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - that is  destined for the USA. 

Cargo at the last port of departure in those countries will be required to comply with air cargo advance screening (ACAS) protocols primarily affecting six carriers: EgyptAir, Royal Jordanian, Qatar, Saudi, Emirates and Etihad. 

 

“In close co-ordination with Customs and Border Protection [CBP], I directed specific carriers to implement strict security requirements based upon recent information that established a need to implement additional security measures for air cargo bound to the United States on both passenger and cargo aircraft,” TSA administrator David Pekoske said.

 

“The continued threat to commercial aviation calls for enhanced screening and security to protect international air travel direct to the United States,” Pekoske added.

 

It is understood the countries were chosen because of a “demonstrated intent by terrorist groups to attack aviation from them". 

 

ACAS requires airlines to screen and provide the TSA and CBP with advanced information about all cargo that carriers plan to bring to the US. ACAS forces carriers to provide 'total asset visibility'. Required details for ACAS include where a parcel was sent from, detailed information about the sender, details about the parcels handling in transit, how it was sent, the package's destination and its contents.