Cutting into European, Mideast and African cargo crime through an EU-wide secure parking scheme
 IN the area of transport crime, law enforcement in Europe and elsewhere is largely seen as yet another cost of doing business rather than a source of moral outrage.
That's because there are so many impositions, excises and exactions in the course of doing business that little distinguishes one cause of loss from another.
But incident reports show significant year-on-year increases for each of the first nine months of 2016, which is expected to be the worst year for freight thefts in more than five years.
Yet we have seen that law enforcement, however expensive, is not greatly burdensome to the shipping sector if taken on in the national or international, interest as was in the case of maritime piracy when the navies of the world were deployed against it.
Today, there is an attempt to do just that as the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) outlines plans to European Commission experts on how they might assist in a secure parking scheme starting next year.
Could these be the first baby steps to mirror the effects of crushing state action that largely eliminated major piracy off Somalia in the last five years?
Perhaps because of the flow of desperate migrants from the Middle East and Africa, or simply the lack lustre performance of the European economy, theft from trucks is on the rise and representing a rising cost factor that ought to be dealt with in a period of low margins.
Just as Gulf of Aden-Red Sea-Indian Ocean piracy was once all consuming, the subject of a major Hollywood movie, but is now in general decline, could not the same be experienced in trucking?
Could not the TAPA plan become similar to those first awkward first steps that prompted security contractors like Dryad chief operations officer Ian Millen, to recently say:
"We continue to see significant progress as anti-piracy measures take effect and maritime crime de-escalate, but in others [in the Gulf of Guinea and the Sulu Sea] violent crime and piracy continue."
But gone today are the US$7 million ransom routinely paid to pirates five or 10 years ago for the release of entire crews and their ships.
Today Mr Millen says: "We are witnessing a period of de-escalation as shipowners are placing less reliance on armed security in favour of information-based risk mitigation. The containment of Somali piracy has come about as a result of a comprehensive, joined-up approach, including naval forces and embarked armed guards.
While piracy is in steep decline, European cargo crime is not. Au contraire, its level continues to rise and is set to reach a five-year high this year, says TAPA.
What TAPA, an association of more than 800 member companies, presented to the European Commission experts, was its latest initiative to minimise losses from supply chains in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
The association told commission experts that the robust secure parking programme could launch in the first half of 2017, reported Lloyd's Loading List. Data reported to TAPA's Incident Information Service (IIS) shows that over 86 per cent of all recorded cargo crimes last year involved trucks.
The association analysed 807 cases of 'Theft from vehicles alone in 2015, representing 53.3 per cent of all crimes in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, as well as 205 incidents involving theft of vehicles, 145 thefts from trailers, 81 truck thefts and 61 cases of theft of trailers.
Most of the 60 hijackings reported to TAPA last year also involved attacks on trucks and drivers.
In 57.2 per cent of all recorded cargo crimes in 2015, information provided by companies, law enforcement agencies and insurers stated the location of thefts to be 'Unsecured Parking" totalling 866 incidents.
"One of the causes of crime, TAPA says, is the lack of credible, measurable secure parking sites in the EMEA region, and particularly Europe, making it extremely difficult for companies to determine the security level of a parking site without a physical inspection," said TAPA.
As TAPA sees it secure parking programme will be open to all parking owners. It says its aim is to identify secure parking places through certification, partnership and mutual recognition.
It will recognise existing secure parking locations and encourage other parking site operators to update the security of their locations to attract new business.
TAPA is building a new online tool for its manufacturer and logistics service provider members that will incorporate a route planner, a secure parking locator, site information and contact details, as well as an incident history overlay showing the locations of previous cargo crimes reported to TAPA on the routes companies are planning to use.
The online tool will also provide an opportunity for feedback from TAPA members, drivers, parking owners and law enforcement agencies.
In Phase 1, under the scheme, there will be three ways for parking site owners to join the new secure parking programme:
A self-certification entry level with TAPA conducting sample audits of these sites, by signing an annual Partner Declaration to confirm the security requirements stated in the TAPA programme are in place through mutual recognition by TAPA of parking place operators that have met the requirements of other organisations with TAPA pre-approved and accredited parking security schemes.
In Phase 2, there will be the addition of a full certification programme with audits carried out by independent audit bodies with re-certification every three years. Parking operators will also be required to carry out annual self-audits under the certification scheme, which will have three levels.
Said TAPA vice chairman Jason Breakwell: "The challenges facing transport operators in our region cannot be ignored. We are taking action to help minimise losses from supply chains and to help improve driver safety following the growing number of reports of violent attacks over the past two to three years.
"We want to give our members access to a wider choice of secure parking locations, promote the secure sites that already exist, and encourage other parking owners to raise their security levels to gain new business.
"Cargo crime is not going away. In fact, incident reports to TAPA's IIS show significant year-on-year increases for each of the first nine months of 2016 and we expect this to be the worst year for recorded freight thefts in over five years in the EMEA region."
Mr Breakwell, also commercial director for European road freight operator Wallenborn Transports, said: "This is also due to the fact that virtually all products are now at risk of theft from supply chains. The International Road Union (IRU) statistics show that in Europe, 75 per cent of all goods by volume or 18 billion tonnes of products a year are delivered by trucks. That means there is tremendous growth potential for parking operators that respond to the call for greater security from their potential customers."
All in all the TAPA project on paper at least stacks up to be a game change for the those dealing with cargo crime in the supply chain. |
