Brussels, 29/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Early next year, the European Commission is to present new rules on safety controls for freight and mail sent by air, European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas announced on Monday 29 November, after the meeting of the high-level expert group on air freight safety. On Monday, the group finalised a report of recommendations to reinforce airfreight safety in Europe, after a series of abortive attacks using booby-trapped packages sent by air mail (EUROPE 10225). The recommendations, which will be put to the Council of Transport Ministers on Thursday 2 December, will focus on three fields of action: reinforcing safety checks, improved coordination of actions and information between the member states and coordination at international level.
These are actions which need to be taken as a matter of urgency over the coming months, Kallas told the press, whilst justifying the need for a “common European response” based more on anticipation. On the one hand, “the threat is a common one” and “ten out of twenty airfreight distribution centres are situated in Europe”. On the other hand, freight transport “is a global issue” and “if we all set different rules in place, it will be difficult and very expensive to comply with these rules”, he stated.
The action plan presented by Kallas provides: - to reinforce air freight safety checks: the proposals announced for the beginning of next year will apply to freight sent from countries situated outside the EU (around 80% of all freight moving via Europe). It will also define criteria to identify the risk profile of goods sent and establish a mechanism to assess safety standards in third-country airports. The member states will also be invited to speed up the implementation of existing European legislation, particularly as regards the sender validation process (the deadline is April 2030). There are also plans to extend the inspections regime, increasing the number of obligatory inspections in the airports of the EU; - coordinating actions and information between the member states by setting in place appropriate mechanisms for the exchange of information and the “pooling” of knowledge on measures and risks; - joint international action to be based on improved cooperation between the EU and other international organisations. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will discuss the issue next week, said Kallas, who went on to plead in favour of “more targeted funding” to develop the capacities of countries raising the greatest concerns. (A.By./transl.fl)