Approve Haulier Certification
In connection with the adoption of new EU regulations concerning the approval process for road carriers carrying out air cargo transport in the secure supply chain, including Road Feeder Service (RFS), Avsec hereby provides detailed information about the new requirements for approving road carriers and an effective method of supervising this procedure and solutions that facilitate control over maintaining status.
Ground transport between the premises of registered agents, known consignors, and air carriers of air cargo and mail, to which required control measures regarding protection have been applied, is often outsourced by such entities to external road carriers acting on their behalf. Some conditions and regulations allowing the use of road carrier services, as well as some duties of these carriers, were already specified in the annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/1998 of 5 November 2015 establishing detailed measures for the implementation of the common basic standards on aviation security. However, in order to maintain the integrity of the secure supply chain of air cargo and mail in the Union, attention has been drawn to the need to increase clarity regarding the responsibilities and supervision by the relevant authorities over road carriers and the operations performed by them. To this end, new requirements concerning the approval of road carriers and their supervision have been included in the annex to the implementing regulation (EU) 2015/1998.
What does an approved haulier mean?
Under the new regulations, an approved haulier means an entity that, on behalf of a registered agent or known consignor, provides ground transportation and protection of shipments containing air cargo and mail, to which control measures regarding protection have previously been applied, and whose procedures comply with common rules and standards of protection sufficient to maintain the integrity of the shipments.
What does the new approval process for road carriers look like?
The approval of road carriers is done by the relevant authority.
The applicant, being a natural or legal person, applies for approval by the competent authority of the Member State in which the address of residence or the head office of the applicant is located, depending on which is applicable. Foreign branches of the same applicant or its subsidiaries apply for approval through the competent authority of the Member State in which the head office of that foreign branch or subsidiary is located.
The applicant presents the competent authority with a security program. In the program, the methods and procedures that the road carrier must adhere to in order to meet the requirements specified in Regulation (EC) No 300/2008 and its implementing acts are described. It includes detailed provisions and procedures covering at least:
1) general information, including information about the organization, the person responsible for security, quality control, cooperation with authorities, reporting, and other plans and instructions;
2) the protection of cargo during receipt, handling, limited storage, transport, and delivery;
3) the recruitment and training of personnel, including training documentation and evidence of background checks with positive results, as applicable;
4) measures to prevent unlawful interference in relation to shipments containing air cargo and mail, to which control measures regarding protection have been applied, and actions to be taken in case of such interference.”
Moreover, the program also defines how the road carrier monitors compliance with these provisions and procedures. In addition, the applicant also submits a Declaration of Commitment – an approved road carrier. This declaration is signed by the legal representative of the applicant or the person responsible for the protection of this entity. The signed declaration must clearly specify the location or locations to which it refers, and is kept by the competent authority.
After submitting the security program and its successful evaluation confirming its appropriateness and completeness, the applicant undergoes a local inspection to assess compliance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 300/2008 and its implementing acts. The local inspection includes monitoring the relevant operations and procedures performed by the road carrier without irregularities during the receipt, handling, limited storage, transport, and delivery of shipments, as applicable. The local inspection includes at least one of the business locations belonging to the road carrier’s network. After the completion of the local inspection, an approving report is drafted.
Once the competent approving authority successfully completes the stages and confirms that the applicant meets the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 300/2008 and its implementing acts, the status of an approved road carrier is granted for a maximum period of five years. In doing so, the appropriate authority ensures the introduction of the necessary detailed data of the road carrier into the EU database of the secure supply chain (KSDA) no later than the next working day. When entering the data into the database, the appropriate authority assigns each headquarters address a unique alphanumeric identifier in the standard format.
What are the obligations of approved hauliers?
Fundamentally, the requirements for approved road carriers should not cause unnecessary administrative and operational burdens for either the entities or the competent authorities. To enable the gradual introduction of the system of approved road carriers in the Union, the current requirements to which road carriers are subject will continue to apply until December 31, 2026. Establishing a transition period aims to facilitate the preparation for the mandatory implementation of the system of approved road carriers by the competent authorities and the relevant entities subject to them.
However, as can be easily deduced from the above regulations, the process of approving road carriers requires appropriate preparation and starts from presenting the competent authority with a security program along with a declaration of commitment, through local inspection, and ends with an approving report and the granting of approved road carrier status. Subsequently, a series of further tasks concerning supervision and control are undertaken to maintain status by ensuring appropriate protection measures in relation to the cargo and relating to the recruitment and training of personnel. An approved road carrier ensures a.o.:
– all personnel involved in the transport of cargo and mail have undergone general training in civil aviation security awareness in accordance with point 11.2.7 of the implementing regulation (EU) 2015/1998;
– all personnel, referred to in point (b), who have also been granted unsupervised access to cargo and mail, to which required control measures regarding protection have been applied, have undergone training in protection according to point 11.2.3.9 and background checks with a positive result according to point 11.1.2 lit. b) of the implementing regulation (EU) 2015/1998;
– identifiable air cargo and identifiable air mail, to which control measures regarding protection have previously been applied, were secured against unauthorized interference or violation during receipt, handling, limited storage, transport, and delivery.
