Ministerial approval of new security legislation 'imminent'

JOY ORLEK MOVES IN the airfreight industry to introduce mandatory legislation demanding the identification of all goods placed on board aircraft in South Africa appear to have stalled. There is still no indication of when the legislation, due to be signed off last year, will happen. But it could be soon, according to Garry Marshall, executive director of the SA Express Parcels Association (Saepa). "It has been waiting for the minister of transport to sign. But it is not as simple as X-raying the cargo," he added. "It also includes the complex issue of air cargo agents and exporters qualifying as “known shippers” under the proposed legislation in the civil aviation regulations." There is however no indication of any ministerial reticence in signing the draft, only the usual government tardiness in processing regulations, and Marshall suspects the minister will apply pen to paper within the next couple of weeks. Once ministerial approval has been granted, all goods will need to be X-rayed before boarding the aircraft, and that will require a rethink of all current processes. Agents handing in cargo will need to be licensed and in order to be licensed they will need to be audited. The origin of goods will have to be verified and all goods will need to be screened before being handed over as known cargo. This can only be achieved by X-ray screening of every item, and here a number of options are open to the industry. TNT country general manager Tim Steel believes an industry approach would be the most prudent. Rather than each operator installing his own piece of equipment – at a cost of R500 000 or more – some form of central initiative with the Airports Company of SA would make a lot of practical sense, says Steel. “In many countries around the world there are shared facilities which are available on a rental basis. The cost of investment in the necessary equipment could potentially put some of the smaller operators out of business.” Whatever route is chosen, Steel fully supports the initiative, which would apply to domestic as well as international traffic. And South Africa would be the first country in Africa to apply the regulations.