Amsterdam’s air cargo ‘remote scanning’ pilot under way

REPRESENTATIVES from forwarder Rhenus Logistics and Dutch Customs authorities have put a ‘remote scanning’ of airfreight shipments pilot scheme into operation in Amsterdam.
A demonstration of airfreight shipment scanning, with remote electronic direct connection to Customs, has been launched by Rhenus and its daughter companies Rhenus Air, Copex, KDS Cargo and Racon Air.
Forwarders X-ray scan freight shipments selected by Customs and subsequently make the scanned images available to Customs in real-time. Customs then takes care of receiving, reading and analysing the images remotely.
This scheme promotes fast, efficient and safe freight shipment for both businesses as well as the government, says a statement.
The remote scanning facilities are part of the Schiphol SmartGate Cargo programme, one of the first international public-private cooperative projects in the airfreight sector.
Peter Pasman, chief operating officer for airfreight at Rhenus Group, says: “This new development means that Customs no longer needs to be physically present to conduct checks, which will result in time savings for all parties in the logistics chain.
“The Rhenus strategy focuses on taking on a proactive role in the airfreight industry and we consider this development to be a new step forwards towards more efficient and safe logistics processes,” he adds.
The Dutch Customs authority is working towards an integrated approach of all surveillance of cross-border freight traffic, integrating surveillance with the logistics chain.