‘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.