There is a necessity for stronger and collaborative safety screening processes across the air cargo supply chain to deal with the risks created by dangerous goods that were not declared or which were misdeclared on transport and travel documents, says airline industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The existing regulations regarding the transport of such goods by air – the Dangerous Goods Regulations – are well-established and effective, however, the problem relates to non-compliance with these regulations.

About 80% of incidents involving dangerous goods that had been reported to IATA during the first semester of last year had involved goods that had not been declared or had been hidden. These incidents had most frequently involved lithium batteries, aerosols and e-cigarettes. 

Against this background, regulators have been discussing the potential of counter-terrorist aviation security screening processes to detect these un- or misdeclared dangerous goods. IATA believed that this would be an important, but, on its own, insufficient, step.

“Dangerous goods are transported safety by air every day,” highlighted IATA global cargo head Brendan Sullivan. “The risk comes when they enter the system undeclared or incorrectly declared. Every part of the supply chain has a role to play in identifying and stopping such incidents as soon as possible. Security screening, which is primarily focused on terror threats, is one layer of protection against rogue shippers, but it is not a complete solution. A comprehensive multi-layer approach beginning as far upstream the supply chain as possible is essential.”

In its White Paper, “Safety and Security in the Cargo Supply Chain”, the association advocates a five-step approach to dealing with the problem. These layers involved governments, manufacturers and online marketplaces, shippers and associated operations, airlines and ground handlers, and airports.

Governments should strengthen oversight and the enforcement of the dangerous goods regulations across the supply chain, IATA states, adding that manufacturers and online marketplaces should make certain that dangerous goods were correctly identified and, if necessary, certified, with accurate product information provided.

"Shippers, freight forwarders, and postal operators should reinforce acceptance controls and the training of their personnel, and make greater use of customer and shipment data to identify higher-risk cargoes before they reached airports. Airlines and ground handlers should increase their checks before they loaded the cargo. And, airports should strengthen information sharing and coordination across the cargo community," IATA concludes.