‘Compliance with Part 108 slow and unenthusiastic’

The South African air
cargo industry is only
paying lip service to
security, according to
Bob Garbett, MD of
Professional Risk & Asset
Management, and honorary
director of the Civil
Aviation Association of
Southern Africa (Caasa).
“And I hope and pray
that it will not take a
disaster to force wider
compliance,” he told FTW.
He described it as “a sad
reflection on the aviation
industry in South Africa,”
that the take-up by the
forwarding and courier
agents, consignors and
air carriers of the Part
108 air cargo security
measures has been “slow,
and in some cases, even
unenthusiastic.”
“There is a tendency
amongst some members
of the industry to place
reliance on a single
security measure,”
Garbett added, “as this
is more convenient than
applying the secure
freight principles. It
is indisputable that,
worldwide, the concept of
creating a sterile channel
from consignor to aircraft
is by far the most effective
security defence we have
against the cancer of
terrorism or malicious acts
by mentally disturbed or
other malicious entities.”
He suggested that there
are operations in SA, which
include air carriers, where
the lure of profit seems
to have overtaken the
responsibility of security.
“These agents and
operators actively
discourage, or at best do
not encourage, the secure
freight concept - preferring
to charge a fee for making
cargo ‘known’, either by
x-ray, canine detection,
vapour detection or certain
other means.
“This dramatically
cuts across the whole
idea of securing cargo
from its very origin onto
the aircraft, by actively
excluding the consignor
and, in some cases, even
the forwarding or courier
agent. It is irresponsible,
if not selfish, and makes
a mockery of protecting
the flying public. Paying
lip service to Part 108 is
inexcusable.”
The Part 108 regulations
are not regarded as
mandatory by the SA
Civil Aviation Association
(SACAA). “And,” said
Garbett, “legal opinion
differs as to whether the
industry is obliged to apply
the regulations or not.”
A problem that he noted
was that the CAA aviation
security (Avsec) division
has a very limited number
of inspectors.