Clarity over ‘Secure Freight’ initiative

We read with interest your article of March 30, entitled “South Africa yet to commit to Secure Freight”. While it is certainly the case that the ‘Secure Freight’ initiative is being regarded with great interest by many countries, it is important to note that neither the Australian Office of Transport Security (AU OTS) nor the UK Department of Transport (DfT) has formally adopted the programme. They have however recognised that the standards and procedures outlined in the Iata scheme are aligned with their own principles. The distinction is important because although the AU OTS and UK DfT already have their own robust freight security regimes in place, they have supported Iata’s initiative by providing guidance and opinions on the way to evolve its standards, and they both recognise the value it has for countries that need to build their air cargo supply chain security programmes. The Secure Freight initiative relies on authorities to implement quality assurance of a process that secures cargo upstream early on in the supply chain and then protects it from interference until it reaches its destination. A successful pilot in Malaysia has been followed by two further current pilots in Kenya and Mexico, and we expect to trial in Chile and the UAE this year. We hope very much that South Africa will recognise the value of this programme, which we believe can enhance South Africa’s current regulatory framework and its operational and infrastructure environment, to achieve compliance with Icao Annex 17 standards. In time, we hope that the ‘Secure Freight’ initiative will be adopted by many countries, including South Africa, a step that will go a long way to enriching and enhancing the security of air cargo trade lanes around the world.