Toners - A No Fly Zone!

The recent attempt by Yemen based terrorists to detonate a bomb built inside a toner cartridge on board UPS and Fedex cargo flights last week has led the British Government to issue a complete lock-down on the shipments of machines, toner and ink cartridges in, through and out of the UK.

With immediate effect the following restrictions have been put in place:

1. No toner or ink cartridges over 500gm can be carried in hand luggage
2. No unaccompanied shipments of printers, fax machines, copiers are permitted on board airlines in/out or through UK airports
3. No unaccompanied shipments of toner or ink cartridges are permitted on board airlines in/out or through UK airports.

This lock-down is in effect for at least 30 days from now and will be reviewed by COBRA (the government emergency response committee) after that.

The knock-on to this will undoubtedly be a mix of stock availability issues, delays in order fulfillment and a drop in exports of the product out of the UK - none of this good news for the UK economy.

The powder in question was previously secreted in a pair of under-pants and in a shoe worn by a terrorist and they didn't ban anyone wearing Calvin Keins or trainers did they?! This powder can be hidden in ANYTHING - stopping toners and inkjet cartridges being distributed legitimately just does not make sense and does not really do anything to make this country safer.