NEW YORK — The U.N. agency that oversees aviation is pushing new guidelines for cargo security to counter al-Qaida’s new mail-bomb strategy, but is stopping short of calling for 100 percent screening of packages, as pilots and some U.S. lawmakers have urged.
The proposed changes concentrate on checking outbound shipments before they even reach the airport. A draft of new guidelines will go out to all 190 member countries in the next few weeks, the agency says.
Governments are increasingly worried about cargo security as the holiday season swells the number of packages moving around the world.
In October, militants based in Yemen tried to blow up cargo jets with 38 bombs hidden in printer cartridges. The bombs were stopped only because of a tip from Saudi intelligence officials.