Some air cargo would not be screened

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The Bush administration plans a program that would allow some U.S. air cargo to bypass screening mandated by a law signed earlier this month.

The shipments would have to be sealed into tamper-proof packaging, The Boston Globe reported.

The Transportation Security Administration has three years to implement the new law. Unions representing pilots and flight attendants said that they interpreted the law to mean that cargo would have the same level of screening as checked luggage, which is now either X-rayed or examined by hand.

"As usual, the TSA is working to circumvent what we want and what we feel is the best type of security," said Captain Paul Onorato, president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations.

Airlines lobbied against the law, arguing that it would be too expensive to implement.