Wednesday, September 18th, 2013, by Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA)
USA – TIACA says EU’s cargo security regulations fall short
The International Air Cargo Association said new European Union regulations on air cargo security fall outside industry goals of unified global standards.
The new regulations take effect July 1, 2014. The European Commission has had meetings recently with industry stakeholders in preparation for the regulations.
Under the new rules, all carriers wishing to transport cargo or mail into the EU or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) from a non-EU/EFTA airport must ensure that an EU aviation security validation of their cargo and mail operations has been carried out, at each airport, by an independent expert.
Successful independent validation of a carrier’s non-EU airport operations will allow the carrier to be designated as an “air cargo or mail carrier operating into the union from a third country airport” (ACC3). Airlines that have not obtained the necessary validation before July 1 will not be allowed to continue transporting cargo or mail into the EU.
“While the EU views these ACC3 regulations as an important step towards ensuring a more secure and efficient supply chain over the long-term, there are significant challenges to implementing them so quickly,” Oliver Evans, TIACA chairman, said. “Although we welcome the European Commission’s recent outreach to industry stakeholders, there is still little consistency among EU/EFTA member states regarding the implementation process, and significantly more outreach is needed between the EU and non-EU civil aviation authorities.” TIACA encouraged the European Commission to maintain vigilance over the regulation’s implementation and continue engagement with the industry, in order to avoid the air cargo supply chain being disrupted July 1.
“TIACA believes it is critical to find ways forward that enhance security but which do not disrupt vital commercial air cargo flows,” Evans said. “Moreover, TIACA supports the process of developing standards on a global, rather than regional or unilateral basis. We also fully support recognizing the audit methods of other countries’ civil aviation authorities, similar to the mutual recognition between the EU, Switzerland, the USA and Canada as a logical means to accomplish global security effectively and efficiently.”
(Air Cargo World –USA)