New air travel rules ease some restrictions

WASHINGTON -- Air travelers were handed new rules yesterday, given permission to carry small amounts of liquid nonprescription medicine onto a plane and required to remove their shoes during security checks.

It is now mandatory for passengers to place their shoes on an X-ray belt for screening.

The eased restrictions on medicine and the required shoe removal were among several measures the Transportation Security Administration ordered in response to the terrorist plot in Britain involving US-bound airplanes. TSA had banned all liquid medications; now it will allow up to 4 ounces of liquid nonprescription medicine.

In other measures, TSA said it would let fliers carry on low-blood-sugar treatments including glucose gel for diabetics; solid lipstick; and baby food. But it said all aerosols are prohibited.

On Saturday, the TSA added mascara to the list of banned items, which includes baby teethers with gel or liquid inside, children's toys with gel inside, and gel candles.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff reassured the public that things would only go so far. ``I don't see us moving to a total ban on hand baggage at this point," he told ABC's ``This Week" yesterday.

Chertoff said the government was putting ``less emphasis on the nail clippers and the nail scissors" and more on training additional screeners ``specifically to look for modern-type detonation equipment that might be concealed in baggage."

TSA said it wanted to remove any ambiguity from its procedures, particularly over the handling of shoes.