Time running out for EU airfreight accreditation

With less than nine months to go before the European Union’s (EU) ACC3 validation programme becomes effective on July 1, 2014, there are concerns that the South African freight industry will miss the take-off. “The potential threat to a business is considerable if that deadline is not met,” said David Alexander, general manager compliance services at Professional Cargo Services, adding that it is critical that freight forwarders dealing with air cargo carriers take the steps as soon as possible for validation as known consignors (KC3) or regulated agents (RA3). “There are only 39 independent global validators that are EU-accredited and as far as I know their diaries are rapidly filling up across the globe as the industry races to meet the deadline,” he said recently. Alexander also noted that while the carriers were driving the ACC3 programme, it was also important for freight forwarders to obtain independent validation. “Otherwise it will mean needing to get validation from all the carriers individually,” he said. Some of the major consequences of not having the EU’s ACC3 validation is that freight forwarders will have liability in the event of an accident, there will be delays at air cargo side and huge screening costs will be incurred. “The costs of validation can also be managed if the industry does its homework beforehand,” commented Alexander. He said it could take at least a full day to become a valid KC3 or RAC3 under the ACC3 programme or up to two or three days for a big operator. “And that is after the appointment with one of the 39 validators who are travelling across the globe has been set,” he said. Alexander said that while the changes to Part 108 were still voluntary in South Africa, it was advisable for freight forwarders to become a Part 108 regulated agent or known consignor. “I must emphasise that Part 108 does not replace the EU standards nor bring EU validation; it does bring agents a step closer to the ACC3 programme as it contains about 80% of the measures required by the EU programme,” he stated. Alexander said it was also advisable to do a pre-validation check before a visit by one of the independent validators to ensure a company meets all the criteria and can fast-track the process. He said that South Africa’s aviation cargo security in general had been hailed as “more robust and comprehensive than some EU systems”, according to an independent EU validator who visited recently but added that the formal validation was needed. Kintetsu World Express became the first southern African logistics company to receive top EU safety accreditation with an RA3 designation earlier this month, as reported by FTW’s sister publication, FTW Online.