Testifying at a Congressional hearing in Washington, Steve Lord, GAO director of homeland security and justice issues, said the TSA would fall short of meeting its domestic deadline, and claimed only 55 percent of import cargo would be screened by August. Years of international negotiations were necessary before full inbound screening could be accomplished, he said.

A GAO report published at the end of June alleged that TSA officials were basing their current screening performance on estimates, not firm data. “Thus TSA cannot verify if mandated screening levels are being met.”

Lord acknowledged “significant progress” through the Certified Cargo Screening Program, but pointed out that screening technologies were still being tested. No reliable system system for screening containerized cargo traveling on wide-body aircraft had yet been identified, and more sniffer dogs would be needed.

Mike Middleton, executive vice president at Texas-based multimodal operator Secure Global Logistics, told the hearing he had only been able to afford screening because of a TSA-funded pilot program.

“Ours is a low margin industry and capital funding for non-revenue producing services like cargo screening would be prohibitive for companies like ours.

“In Houston, there are more than 1,000 companies similar to ours and yet less than 40 have become Certified Cargo Screening Facilities.
 Of those, I would suspect that the majority are not purchasing technology, but only utilizing manual open and inspect procedures in order to avoid the substantial capital investment required,” Middleton said.

“Facility security measures alone cost us approximately $80,000. Training amounted to $20,000. X-ray and trace detection equipment used in our facility totaled approximately $300,000.

“Had we not obtained a grant from TSA, we would be in the same position as many of our colleagues who have no plans to participate in the screening program, will only become certified in manual inspection, will outsource this service to a third party, or simply leave it to the airlines.”

Fernando Soler, owner of SOS Global Express in New Bern, North Carolina and founder of The Air Cargo Security Alliance, said: 
“TSA’s current cargo screening regime will force small- to mid-size indirect air carriers to face insurmountable costs and logistical hurdles in order to remain
in the market place. For many, a 100 percent screening mandate without federal screening centers operating at all American airports is a threat to their very existence.”

John Meenan, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Air Transport Association of America, told the hearing:
 “The biggest challenge in meeting the August deadline continues to be the lack of certified screening technology to inspect large air cargo pallets.

“Shippers and freight forwarders typically create these pallet-size shipments before they are tendered to an airline.
The challenge has always been that screening is required at the individual carton level. Existing technology cannot screen large consolidated shipments. The nature of our business and available screening equipment continue to be badly mismatched.

“While CCSP is helping to address this problem, by implementing screening-protection upstream, a far more practical solution remains to be found with the eventual TSA certification of screening technology that is compatible with the cargo that we carry,” Meenan claimed.

"Breaking down consolidated shipments at an airport cargo facility is not practical. Airport cargo facilities and ramps were not designed to be high-volume disassembly and reassembly locations.”

John Sammon, assistant administrator transportation sector network of TSA, said: “As of August 1, no unscreened cargo will be uploaded onto a passenger aircraft departing an airport in the US. Quite simply, if it isn’t screened, it won’t fly.
 All segments of the air cargo community are prepared, and we expect that this will happen with little disruption.

“Although 100 percent screening of all inbound air cargo cannot reasonably be achieved by August 1, we are making substantial progress toward meeting the 100 percent mark in the next few years.

“As of today, TSA has certified more than 760 entities as Certified Cargo Screening Facilities, which are currently contributing over 47 percent of the screened cargo volume transported on passenger aircraft departing US airports.”