We await the next step in the legislative process toward stronger inspection of cargo inbound to the U.S. The U.S. House in January passed H.R. 1: Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007, which amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The bill now awaits Senate modification and approval.
Among the proposed rules:

• 100% inspection of cargo transported on passenger aircraft.
• 100% inspection of cargo containers, including scans for radiation, density, and atomic elements.
• Potential acceleration of plans to implement an automated biometric entry and exit data system.

Some of this will be paid for by fees assessed on air passengers. Certainly, however, there will be increased costs in logistics and lapses time that will be the burden of OEMs. And U.S. customers will be faced with longer delivery times from offshore factories, thus confounding efforts to streamline the supply chain.