DHL Global Forwarding said it is providing courses and workshops to help shippers comply with the new European-wide security regulations, to take effect April 29, 2013.
And in cooperation with Luftfrachtsicherheit-Service GmbH, the company is also handling the inspection and securing of air cargo for clients using specialist X-ray units and explosive detectors.
“Security is the number one priority when transporting cargo by plane, so we started exploring this issue early on. One objective was to seamlessly integrate the new legal provisions with our own processes,” said Dr. Jürgen Klenner, vice president of DHL Global Forwarding Deutschland.
Once the transitional period for the new EU rules ends on April 29, current security declarations will no longer be valid. Companies will have to reapply with the Federal Aviation Office to obtain the status of known consignor.
DHL can assists shippers in obtaining certification as a known consignor, which entails creating security-compliant programs and training courses for their staff.
“Research has revealed that only approximately five percent out of a total of 65,000 freight companies will have certification as being adequately secure by the end of April. The rising volume of non-secure freight requires safety precautions and guidelines that could potentially lead to delays and higher costs,” DHL Global Forwarding said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the cooperation with Luftfrachtsicherheit-Service provides the logistics firm access to the infrastructure necessary to carry out more extensive security checks using X-ray scanners, explosives detectors, and manual inspection performed by specially trained staff.
