New Cargo Security Measures Announced
NEW YORK (
) -- The Department of Homeland Security said on Monday that it has introduced additional security measures for all cargo carriers bound for the U.S., following
a thwarted terrorist plot last week.
The DHS has ordered a ground halt on all cargo coming in from Yemen. The ban will also be extended to all cargo coming in from Somalia.
High-risk cargo will not be allowed on passenger aircraft. Toner and ink cartridges over 16 ounces will be prohibited on passenger aircraft in both carry-on bags and checked bags on domestic and international flights in-bound to the United States.
International inbound mail packages will be screened individually and should be certified to have come from an established postal shipper.
All cargo identified as "high risk" will go through additional and enhanced screening. A team of Transportation Security Administration inspectors are also working with authorities in Yemen to enhance their security measures so that the halt could eventually be lifted.
Air-cargo carriers
UPS
(UPS) - Get Report
and
FedEx
(FDX) - Get Report
will be affected by the new rules.
"UPS does not anticipate any difficulties at all in achieving the goals of compliance by their deadline," Norman Black, a spokesman for Atlanta-based UPS, told
Bloomberg
.
FedEx backs the increased scrutiny of cargo, said Sandra Munoz, a spokeswoman for the Memphis-based company. "We support the agency's goals to help make cargo transportation more secure," she told
Bloomberg
.
-- Written by Shanthi Venkataraman in New York
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