THE SOUTH African chapter of the Transported Assets Protection Association (Tapa) is ready to roll. At an open general meeting arranged by Tapa SA chairman John Nelson in Boksburg last week, Tapa EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) acting chairman David Reid told delegates that the problems worldwide were no different from those in South Africa and that the local community could learn from the experience of its overseas counterparts. Central to this, he said, was the need for all stakeholders – shippers, service providers, law enforcement, government and the like – to work together for the common cause. An example, which he believes could possibly be mirrored in Johannesburg, was “Operation Grafton” at Heathrow. According to Reid, Intel and Samsung had indicated that they were on the verge of pulling out of London Heathrow and moving to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Individually they held talks with the UK government but got nowhere – it took 225 Tapa members to get things moving. The problem at Heathrow, said Reid, was that four police forces were responsible for crimes on Heathrow and were not working together and sharing intelligence. The establishment of a working group to facilitate information sharing and to put together minimum standards saw crime drop by 68%. Tapa was formed in 1997 in North America by manufacturers of high value products to share intelligence on how to address the growth in high tech freight crime. It has since evolved into a forum for managers to share professional information for the mutual benefit of their companies.
