Brussels, 28/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission adopted, under the written procedure, a communication and a draft regulation increasing safety for land freight transport in the EU. As announced (see EUROPE 9139), the aim is to protect the supply chain against terrorist attacks by creating a sort of EU-wide label for “secure operators”, based on a voluntary code. The proposal affects only overland freight transport (road, rail, inland waterway), with passenger transport measures being taken later if necessary, said the Commission which does not rule out adopting strong measures if it appears the market will not accept the proposed approach.
In its press release, the Commission sets out the reasons for proposing these new measures. Firstly, transport safety has become a crucial international issue and the EU's partners, like the United States, have already introduced certain safety measures for imports which have an effect on the supply chain in Europe. Then, although legislative measures are already in place for air and sea transport security, there is currently no regulation covering the whole supply chain for land transport in Europe. Additionally, the characteristics of land transport, which affects more than half a million companies, from large multinationals to small service companies, make it impossible to put in place security measures comparable with those of air and sea transport. Finally the adoption of new very restricting security measures for all operators would cause the breakdown of he supply chain, says the Commission, which prefers a voluntary scheme, which no operator will be forced to join, but which will be enforced by national authorities.
Specifically, the Commission proposes for Member States a scheme which will grant the status of “secure operator”, for a three year period, to those operators who have implemented a security management system, ensured that resources are made available to counter security risks and met a number of specific minimal European security requirements. These requirements, set out in the annexes to the proposal, relate to issues such as physical protection of buildings, access control, personnel and security procedures, and are laid out in the four supply chain activity groups: - freight preparation and dispatch from point of production; - transport of goods; - forwarding of goods; - warehousing, storage and operations in internal termini. “Secure operator” status will be recognised throughout the EU but Member States will be able to remove or suspend it if an operator fails to meet requirements. Each Member State will be required to designate an authority with competence for the security of the supply chain, responsible for granting the status and for applying the rules as well serving as a point of contact for the Commission and other Member States. Each Member State will also have to draw up a list of “secure operators” on its soil.
The Commission is sure that the proposal will be beneficial for those operators who join the scheme because: - Member States will allow them to enjoy fast track treatment at security checks both within the EU (ports) and at external EU borders; - airports and ports subject to strict EU regulation in terms of security will be certain that merchandise carried within their perimeter by “secure operators” has been subject to appropriate safety measures. “Secure operators” will enjoy preferential treatment: - the system will allow European exporters to take advantage of current schemes applied by the United States facilitating imports and could even become the model for the rapid implementation, at world level, of recommendations from the World Customs Organisation on the security of the supply chain in the world; - a “secure operator” could will be able to demonstrate to customers and partners in the supply chain that he is able to ensure the chain against security breaches. But transport operators will not be the only ones to benefit from the system because, the Commission says, the authorities responsible for security could concentrate the resources at their disposal on checking those operators who are not part of the system, without giving up the right to check “secure operators” if the situation warranted it.