One supply chain

In a highly public demonstration that regulators are on the side of the air cargo industry, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) brought the senior officials of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Customs Organization on stage for the opening ceremony of the Air Cargo Forum in Seoul.
Wan-su Park, the new CEO of Incheon International Airport Corp, centre of photo, linked hands with, from left, Doug Brittin, secretary general of TIACA, Kunio Mikuriya, WCO secretary general, Raymond Benjamin, ICAO secretary general, Seoung-hwan Suh, Korea’s transport minister, TIACA chairman Oliver Evans and TIACA vice chairman Enno Osinga.
Welcoming delegates, Evans said: “This industry faces unprecedented challenges, an unrecedented pace of change.”
Benjamin described air trade as “an essential enabler of global connectivity” and underlined the need for the aviation industry “to forge practical partnerships and solutions”. Calling for more liberalised agreements between states, he said: “Segmentation still exists. There is ample room for improvement.”
Emphasisiing the extensive work already done to secure air freight, Benjamin underlined the need to further strengthen security without impeding the flow of cargo through a more refined risk-management approach.
Mikuriya reassured the conference that the Customs community was committed to trade facilitation and was working closely with ICAO to help prevent terrorists and organised crime from infiltrating the supply chain. Receiving data on shipments at an early stage, “preferably pre-loadng,” could help the industry streamline its approach to high-risk cargo.
He described “opportunities but many challenges” from the rapid growth of e-commerce. “We want to understand your needs, and the business model, so we can help facilitate it,” Mikuriya said – “but you must understand why regulations and requirements exist.”