New security measures will hit courier companies

RAY SMUTS THE INTRODUCTION of new security measures legislated for all airfreight - yet to be approved by the authorities and based on the Known Shipper Concept principle - will have “serious consequences” for the courier industry. That’s the view of SA Express Parcel Association executive director Garry Marshall who told FTW that while Saepa fully supported these endeavours to make aviation safer they would come at huge cost to an already beleaguered courier industry, given that rates and margins are always an issue. In terms of the legislation, a new customer unknown to the courier company approached will only receive Known Person status once the contents of the parcel have been viewed and X-rayed prior to dispatch, a practice already partially in place but to become mandatory once enshrined in law. Marshall said the manner in which the Civil Aviation Authority had approached this legislation (Part 108 of Civil Aviation regulation) was “far from satisfactory in that we get no response from them in terms of final requirements, introduction dates and so on.”