Cargo Screening Facilities (CCFPs) and IAC ‘known shipper’ and ‘known hauler’ programmes is not required to be screened by the airline. Interestingly, the USPS does not appear on any of the TSA's published lists. Jennifer Pemberton, spokeswoman
for American Airlines Air Cargo division, which has been hauling USPS mail sacks for as long as the post office has had airmail, explains that “All mail tendered to the carriers is deemed secure by the U.S. Postal Service.” It is therefore, not required to be screened at the airport. Pemberton will not elaborate on how the USPS screened or secured the mail. Neither will Postal Inspector
Backus. She does offer this: “There are a number of security procedures, countermeasures, and other controls in place to protect mail and passengers. Some of these are published in the USPS Domestic Mail Manual and other publications which detail mailing requirements.” Rhéal LeBlanc, communication
programme manager at the Universal Postal Union, located in Bern, Switzerland, explains that postal workers worldwide are trained in security measures similar to the way
“
...all post offices have some sort of pledge to honour the privacy of the mail they handle...”
that ticket check-in agents and gate agents are trained by the airlines. “They will ask, what is in the package, are there hazardous materials? Also, did you prepare this package for mailing?” he says. “And they must verify a return address and the condition of the package right at the counter.” In the U.S. Postal clerks and mail carriers must hand accept packages of more than 16 ounces (454 grams) so that they can visually confirm who is sending the package, and its condition. Any evidence of tampering, protruding wires, soiling (as with a liquid or powder)
August 2010 Aviationsecurityinternational
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of the exterior is cause for further security procedures, and for pulling that package or envelope before it ever hits the mail stream. The routing of a parcel or envelope
once accepted by a postal clerk or carrier has undergone significant automation, particularly in the U.S., in the past decade. Mail that will be shipped via airmail diverges from the ground mail early on in the process. All mail is screened for bio-hazard and radiation, most likely at this point. From a processing and distribution centre, or a priority mail processing centre it is sent on to an airmail centre. There it is sorted and likely scanned with one of several backscatter X-ray or other internal visualization and organic matter detection screening systems; these technologies, which are not for publication, however, are available to post offices worldwide and sanctioned by TSA. Studying patent applications in the past decade for screening technologies and comparing them to manufacturers' websites, it is not too difficult to imagine what the post offices are using to satisfy TSA requirements for scanning the airmail
destined for passenger flights. Opening packages or envelopes
that are sealed for mailing to visually search them, however, is forbidden by the original charter of the USPS, which clearly states that there is “sanctity of the seal.” Postal employees need a search warrant, legally, in the U.S., to open suspect mail. This is not necessarily the case worldwide; however, LeBlanc is quick to verify that all post offices have some sort of pledge to honour the privacy of the mail they handle. Airmail designated for passenger
carrying airlines is placed in mailbags and loaded onto vehicles that are then sealed. These vehicles transport the mail to the loading site at the airport. Some large airports have airmail processing centres that are located on the airport that can put the mail directly into the flow of checked baggage on the secure side of the terminal ramp, where it can flow to the proper flight for transport. Terrorism expert Dr. John Harrison,
Assistant Professor, Manager Terrorism Research at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore,
www.asi-mag.com 27
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