European Commission seeks mandate for bilateral agreements

Gavin Lipsith

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An important step in the quest for mutual recognition of liquids regulations as the Commission seeks approval from member states, while ICAO issues more detail on global standards

The European Commission has decided that it must seek a mandate from all 27 European Union member states before making bilateral agreements with non-European states on the mutual recognition of liquids security standards. European Travel Retail Council president Frank O’Connell and lobbyist John Hume welcomed the move as showing the EC’s willingness to reach agreements, although it may take up to 20 weeks to gain the mandate.

Meanwhile the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has sent a letter to its members providing more detail on its global standards, including a specification of the sealed tamper-evident bag that Hume and O’Connell said supersedes the specification previously agreed by the EU, the US and Canada. It also lays down prescriptive measures for a global standard on the security chain of airside liquids retailing.

Hume told RavenFox.com that the two developments were “important building blocks” in the search for a global solution on liquids security and the problems of selling to transfer passengers. “For the first time we have a clear roadmap to the solution,” he said. “They offer a licence for the industry to solve its problems and we need to seize the initiative.”

O’Connell urged retailers to begin sourcing their tamper-evident bags in accordance with the ICAO standards but—importantly—without the two optional features; a jacket inside the bag to hold the receipt and a hidden image in the side weld of the bag. “To have options at all [is confusing]—either it’s a specification or it isn’t,” said O’Connell. “The problem is that governments may decide they want to have the highest specification bag, and the options would definitely add to the cost of the bags. I can’t see what additional benefits they bring, and we are urging retailers to resist the pressure to implement the options, and we will be fighting for their exclusion.”

Nevertheless, O’Connell said he was happy that ICAO had released the standards. “The fact that they have produced actual specifications is definitely a step forward. It’s a critical piece that needed to happen for third-country agreements.”

See DFNI April 15, out soon, for more analysis of the latest developments.