	DHS Has Made Progress in Harmonizing International Aviation Security and Facilitating Compliance through Foreign Airport Assessments, but Can Further Strengthen Assessment Efforts

		DHS Has Made Progress in Its Efforts to Harmonize International Aviation Security Standards and Practices

DHS has increased its global outreach efforts. In the wake of the December 2009 incident, DHS increased its outreach  efforts. Further, in early 2010, the Secretary of Homeland  Security participated in five regional summits—Africa, the Asia/Pacific  region, Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere—with the  Secretary General of ICAO, foreign ministers and aviation officials, and  international industry representatives to discuss current aviation security  threats and develop an international consensus on the steps needed to  address remaining gaps in the international aviation security system. Through the  declaration, member states recognized the need to strengthen aviation  security worldwide and agreed to take nine actions to enhance  international cooperation to counter threats to civil aviation, which  include, among other things    strengthening and promoting the effective application of ICAO Standards  and Recommended Practices, with particular focus on Annex 17, and  developing strategies to address current and emerging threats;    strengthening security screening procedures, enhancing human factors,  and utilizing modern technologies to detect prohibited articles and support  research and development of technology for the detection of explosives,  weapons, and prohibited articles in order to prevent acts of unlawful  interference;    developing and implementing strengthened and harmonized measures and  best practices for air cargo security, taking into account the need to  protect the entire air cargo supply chain; and    providing technical assistance to states in need, including funding,  capacity building, and technology transfer to effectively address security  threats to civil aviation, in cooperation with other states, international  organizations and industry partners. TSA has increased coordination with foreign partners to enhance  security standards and practices. TSA has also worked with foreign governments to draft international air  cargo security standards. Moreover, following the October 2010 bomb attempt in  cargo originating in Yemen, DHS and TSA, among other things, reached  out to international partners, IATA, and the international shipping industry  to emphasize the global nature of transportation security threats and the  need to strengthen air cargo security through enhanced screening and  preventative measures. In addition, TSA has focused on harmonizing air cargo security standards  and practices in support of its statutory mandate to establish a system to  physically screen 100 percent of cargo on passenger aircraft—including  the domestic and inbound flights of United States and foreign passenger  operations—by August 2010. In response to the December 2009  incident, the Secretary of Homeland Security has emphasized through  outreach efforts the need for nations to develop and deploy enhanced  security technologies. As a result, several nations, including Australia, Canada, Finland,  France, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Germany, Poland, Japan, Ukraine,  Russia, Republic of Korea, and the UK, have begun to test or deploy AIT  units or have committed to deploying AITs at their airports. For example, because the AIT presents a  full-body image of a person during the screening process, concerns have  been expressed that the image is an invasion of privacy. We also reported that TSA did not consistently track and  document host government progress in addressing security deficiencies  identified during TSA airport assessments. As such, we made several  recommendations to help TSA strengthen oversight of its foreign airport  assessment program, including, among other things, that TSA develop  controls to track the status of foreign airport assessments from initiation  through completion; and develop a standard process for tracking and  documenting host governments’ progress in addressing security  deficiencies identified during TSA assessments. Challenges Related to the Harmonization Process and TSA’s Foreign Airport Assessment Program May Affect DHS’s Progress

		Challenges Related to Harmonization

A number of key challenges, many of which are outside of DHS’s control,  could impede its ability to enhance international aviation security  standards and practices. Harmonization depends on voluntary participation. As we reported  in 2007 and 2010, some foreign governments do not share the United  States government’s position that terrorism is an immediate threat to the  security of their aviation systems, and therefore may not view  international aviation security as a priority. Resource availability affects security enhancement efforts. Legal and  cultural differences among nations may hamper DHS’s efforts to  harmonize aviation security standards. Challenges Related to TSA’s Foreign Airport Assessment Program

Our 2007 review of TSA’s foreign airport assessment program identified  challenges TSA experienced in assessing security at foreign airports  against ICAO standards and recommended practices, including a lack of  available inspector resources and host government concerns, both of  which may affect the agency’s ability to schedule and conduct assessments  for some foreign airports. We plan to further assess this issue, as well as other potential  challenges, as part of our ongoing review of TSA’s foreign airport  assessment program, which we plan to issue in the fall of 2011.
Why GAO Did This Study

The attempted December 25, 2009, terrorist attack and the October 2010 bomb attempt involving air cargo originating in Yemen highlight the ongoing threat to aviation and the need to coordinate security standards and practices to enhance security with foreign partners, a process known as harmonization. This testimony discusses the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) progress and challenges in harmonizing international aviation security standards and practices and facilitating compliance with international standards. This testimony is based on reports GAO issued from April 2007 through June 2010, and ongoing work examining foreign airport assessments. For this work, GAO obtained information from DHS and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and interviewed TSA program officials, foreign aviation officials, representatives from international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and industry associations, about ongoing harmonization and TSA airport assessment efforts and challenges.

What GAO Found

In the wake of the December 2009 terrorist incident, DHS and TSA have strived to enhance ongoing efforts to harmonize international security standards and practices through increased global outreach, coordination of standards and practices, use of enhanced technology, and assessments of foreign airports. For example, in 2010 the Secretary of Homeland Security participated in five regional summits aimed at developing an international consensus to enhance aviation security. In addition, DHS and TSA have coordinated with foreign governments to harmonize air cargo security practices to address the statutory mandate to screen 100 percent of air cargo transported on U.S.-bound passenger aircraft by August 2010, which TSA aims to meet by 2013. Further, in the wake of the December 2009 incident, the Secretary of Homeland Security has encouraged other nations to consider using advanced imaging technology (AIT), which produces an image of a passenger's body that screeners use to look for anomalies such as explosives. As a result, several nations have begun to test and deploy AIT or have committed to deploying AIT units at their airports. Moreover, following the October 2010 cargo bomb attempt, TSA also implemented additional security requirements to enhance air cargo security. To facilitate compliance with international security standards, TSA assesses the security efforts of foreign airports as defined by ICAO international aviation security standards. In 2007, GAO reported, among other things, that TSA did not always consistently track and document host government progress in addressing security deficiencies identified during foreign airport assessments and recommended that TSA track and document progress in this area. DHS and TSA have made progress in their efforts to enhance international aviation security through these harmonization efforts and related foreign airport assessments; however, a number of key challenges, many of which are beyond DHS's control, exist. For example, harmonization depends on the willingness of sovereign nations to voluntarily coordinate their aviation security standards and practices. In addition, foreign governments may view aviation security threats differently, and therefore may not consider international aviation security a high priority. Resource availability, which is a particular concern for developing countries, as well as legal and cultural factors may also affect nations' security enhancement and harmonization efforts. In addition to challenges facing DHS's harmonization efforts, in 2007 GAO reported that TSA experienced challenges in assessing foreign airport security against international standards and practices, such as a lack of available international inspectors and concerns host governments had about being assessed by TSA, both of which may affect the agency's ability to schedule and conduct assessments for some foreign airports. GAO is exploring these issues as part of an ongoing review of TSA's foreign airport assessment program, which GAO plans to issue in the fall of 2011. In response to prior GAO recommendations that TSA, among other things, track the status of foreign airport assessments, DHS concurred and is working to address the recommendations. TSA provided technical comments on a draft of the information contained in this statement, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.