ETRC calls for "sealed bag" security solution

Emily Pacey

Print Article E-Mail Article E-Mail Author

Banned liquids and gels should be allowed on as hand luggage if carried in sealed bags, says ETRC

The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) has recommended to governments that they allow airside retailers to sell liquids and gels to US-bound passengers if they are sealed in tamper-proof bags.

The ETRC recommends that banned products should be sealed in durable, transparent plastic bags by retail staff at the point of sale. The contents of the bags would be inspected by security staff before passengers board aircraft, enabling customers to carry their goods on to the plane as hand luggage.

The recommendations were established by travel-retail executives at an ETRC meeting in Amersterdam on Tuesday, as a temporary solution to the ongoing security restrictions.  After the bomb-plot of August 10 was uncovered, a ban was placed on air passengers carrying liquid or gel products on board flights to the US. Duty-free sales around the globe were hit hard, with retailers reporting losses of up to 75%.

Since then, restrictions have been relaxed to allow travellers to buy liquids and gels which are delivered to the door of the plane after the passengers have boarded.

However, ETRC spokesman John Hume told RavenFox.com, "Sealed bags are a better solution for retailers than the current approved practice of delivering customers' goods to the door of the plane. The costs of that method are significant, but more importantly there is no culture among European passengers of using delivery systems – if you have bought a bottle of cognac, you want to see it in your hands."

ETRC vice-president Jacques Parson said, "The current restrictions on hand baggage and airport shopping are not sustainable. We have a solution that delivers security without restricting passenger's ability to enjoy airport shopping and damaging a sector vital to European aviation".

In response to recent press reports that the ban on liquids could be permanent, Hume said, "That is a very worrying possibility," adding, "This is a call to arms for the industry to get things back to normal as fast as possible. We need to encourage the Transportation Security Administration [US airport security agency] to relax the current restrictions. What we are proposing goes a long way towards satisfying the security worries associated with the sale of banned products."