Air Cargo Security – and world cooperation – were the subjects for a conference in Singapore on July 5 and 6. The Singapore Ministry of Transport, Singapore Customs, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) convened the event.
Over 350 delegates from more than 40 countries attended, including representatives from international organisations, such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and business associations. The conference was opened by Pang Kin Keong, Permanent Secretary for Singapore Ministry of Transport. He reminded everyone of the importance of the air cargo sector and the need to balance security and facilitation in this sector.
The event brought together international civil aviation and Customs authorities, including the private sector, to discuss air cargo security and facilitation. Raymond Benjamin, Secretary General of ICAO, said that the conference provided a chance to discuss common challenges and to be able to learn from each other. Security regulators with Customs authorities should use better tools and technology to facilitate advance exchange of information on cargo shipments which will enhance air cargo security, he said.
Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of WCO, spoke about how the involvement of Customs in air cargo security could enhance security, as they have knowledge about trade and traders. He also mentioned the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards, developed to facilitate and secure the global supply chain. The WCO and its members have also made progress in two areas relating to air cargo security through its Technical Experts Group on Air Cargo Security for the sharing of advance cargo information and seeking synergies between the ICAO and WCO security programmes.
Sessions took in the following issues: the current situation and the latest developments on threats, challenges and facilitation; challenges faced by stakeholders on policy, strategy, and operational and implementation hurdles; and harnessing synergies by strengthening cooperation, collaboration and harmonisation of standards and measures at the international, intergovernmental and national levels.
The need was agreed for cooperation, collaboration and coordination between agencies at the national level, between states at the international level, and between ICAO, the WCO and the UPU at the multilateral level; the call for harmonisation, standardisation and clarity of standards, rules and processes; good data delivered at the right time is key to support supply chain security; securing the supply chain is not the responsibility of any single agency; and due to the evolving nature of threats, there is a greater need to continue working together.
At the end of the Conference, ICAO and the WCO released a joint communiqué.
