FASAG Comes to Life!

February 25th, this was the day that the “Federal Aviation Security of Germany” (FASAG) was officially formed with the intention of getting companies, institutions and individuals in Germany into a common bond to ensure that security gets the profile it needs and to aim towards the highest possible security standards at airports and throughout the complete supply chain.

Air cargo security has been a much discussed subject for the past years with various laws and deadlines having been published, much confusion as how and when to implement them and no common guidelines which would make it easier for all involved in the “supply chain,” to put them into practice.
This has led to some discontent in shipping and handling circles in Germany as well as other European countries.

Forming FASAG is hopefully now a final step in trying to consolidate ideas, strategies and the implementation of existing security laws throughout the complete supply chain.

The new Board of FASG is made up of individuals who all have experience in the security field and who together, can put guidelines on the proper track.
Chairman of the Board is Professor Elmar M. Giemulla, a renowned law scholar and well know figure in German aviation circles. Mr Giemulla’s other Board members are Thilo Schmidt, Annette Wiedemann of DEKRA, Christian Kücherer of Kücherer Security Consulting and Katharina Erb, the youngest member of the team, of Logistic Training Center.
The Board is further assisted by various members who are well established in the air cargo and security arena.

Air freight security has reached new dimensions

Previously, security aspects were concentrated mainly around airports and carriers. The EG ruling 2320/2002 extended this to include others, thereby giving birth to the idea of “a secure supply chain” for freight and post. This ruling has in the meantime been replaced by EG 300/2008.
Security has in the past years reached new dimensions with the number of companies which are involved in the chain being brought more and more to the forefront.

It is the view of many in the scene that the German air security ruling which was made law in 2005 has been far from effective and that important aspects such as security training and regulated control have fallen by the wayside.
There are many others also.

FASAG sees one of its main challenges in being able to accompany and be part of the decision process for existing and future regulations.
The members bring a wealth of experience and information into this new organization and their input alongside the law makers and final implementation of such laws can be seen as being highly valuable to the industry.

It would be of great help when the industry as a whole was to quickly recognize the value FASAG offers and to fully support them in their endeavors.
The German Air Cargo Club (ACD) yesterday held an Air Cargo Podium discussion in its meeting, with some of the new FASAG Board members delivering further insight into their future plans to the participants.

John Mc Donagh