Shippers urged to check that agents are ‘regulated’

It is vital that shippers of air
cargo take note of whether
their cargo agents carry the
title of ‘regulated agent’ after
their names, if they hope for
assurance that their cargoes
will be handled and processed
to a high security standard.
According to Pierre
Engelbrecht, general affairs
manager at Kintetsu Worldwide
Express (KWE), a cargo agent
must comply with the terms of
the SA Civil Aviation Authority
(SACAA) Part 108 security
legislation.
Using a regulated agent,
he added, also means that air
carriers will no longer need to
carry out any further searching
or screening of consignments
except to conduct a random
search procedure.
Engelbrecht suggested
there should be a security
partnership between regulated
agents and the airlines.
“Approval enables the work
of conducting security controls
applied to cargo to be shared
by both parties,” he told FTW.
“Overall, it should facilitate
the passage of cargo through
airports, which our business
depends on.
“Our clients will know that
their cargo will not be delayed
unnecessarily by the airline.”
And the aspirant regulated
agents have also gone through
a pretty strict compliance
procedure before getting the
stamp of approval.
Said Engelbrecht: “The
agent will be subjected to the
provisions of the Part 108
regulations, which require
certain things to be done by
law, and a formal programme
of security tests and
inspections.
“The aim of this is to
ensure that appropriate
security standards are set and
maintained.”
The present task for KWE
SA is to offer assistance to air
export customers, to enable
them to become a ‘known
consignor’ and to be able to
reap the benefits of complying
with Part 108.
While Engelbrecht
acknowledges that there are
costs involved in achieving this
compliance, he also insisted
that approval as an agent
offered distinct benefits.
“A regulated agent’s cargo
will be categorised as ‘known
cargo’,” he said, “and will enjoy
preference over ‘unknown
cargo’ with the airlines –
reflecting a speedier service
for clients.
“It also leads to a potential
reduction in liability insurance
premiums and diminished risk
of liability exposure.”