Industry officials say the delay is simply due to the bureaucracy involving new regulations and a desire to get the rule right the first time so as not to burden companies engaged in international trade, especially since there are so many details to work out over how the government and private sector will interact with foreign parties overseas to ensure compliance.
“It’s a bit more complex than anyone realized going in,” Douglas Brittin, secretary general of The International Air Cargo Association, said in an interview. “A lot more needs to be tested before you can write all the details and guidelines.”
The Air Cargo Advanced Screening pilot was launched with the help of express carriers in early 2011 after a package bomb originating in Yemen was discovered on a cargo plane.
