The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been working to make air cargo more secure in 2013. Trials of the Electronic Consignment Security Declaration (e-CSD) began in late 2012 in Europe and the system is designed to show evidence that security measures have been applied to packages or cargo and document how, by whom and when such a security measure was enforced.
What Does This Mean?
Transport services shipping cargo by air will see their goods undergo rigorous security procedures which aim to not only improve the safety of shipping goods by air but also should make the whole process
more efficient and avoid delays. The e-CSD has already been endorsed by the Netherlands and the UK Department of Transport and is set to take off worldwide in 2013.
What Happened During the e-CDS Trials?
In the United Kingdom, transport services packages were shipped via Air France from London Heathrow to Paris Charles de Gaulle. At the end of the trial, it was shown that the necessary security data was successfully transmitted from the UK to Servisair in France and that supporting air security information for the master air waybill was stored securely in the UK internal system. Now that the trials have been carried out, live shipment trials will be undertaken across the globe.
What will Live Shipment Trials Achieve
When e-CDS is rolled out, transport services will be able to tweak the system to suit operational needs and findings. The various security systems in place today across the US and indeed the world will be replaced by one electronic security declaration that is the same worldwide, meaning that all air cargo shipments are secure, no matter where in the world they are being shipped from and where they are arriving.
Security is a key issue today particularly in the world of air transport, and the security of air cargo will be greatly enhanced by these new measures.
