TAPA’s New Facilities and Trucking Security Standards to Combat Crime

The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) has launched the most comprehensive supply chain security standards for facilities and trucking in its 17-year history to combat increasingly sophisticated thefts by organised criminal gangs across the globe, and to prevent substantial losses being incurred by global manufacturers and logistics service providers.

The new 2014 versions of the Association’s Facility Security Requirements (FSR) and Trucking Security Requirements (TSR) are the result of a year-long review process involving TAPA members worldwide. The revised procedures and processes further enhance what are widely regarded as some of the most robust security standards available for the prevention of cargo crime.

Cargo crime is no longer petty, opportunist theft carried out by individuals. Today it is co-ordinated by organised international gangs whose attacks often involve violent and armed hijackings of vehicles, facilities and employees as well as fraudulent pick-ups, fake ‘police’ stops, bogus personnel, slashing open trailer curtains, and attacks on moving vehicles.

Paul Linders, who leads TAPA’s global standards committee, said, “Organised gangs of criminals around the world are becoming more sophisticated and daring in their attempts to steal products during the logistics process and that’s why we regularly review and often upgrade the standards. Cargo crime as a whole is increasing and one of the biggest challenges we face is getting businesses and law enforcement agencies to report loss data to help us understand the true scale of the problem and to provide intelligence that helps companies plan their supply chains using the latest market information. At TAPA, our analysis tells us that losses suffered by our members are three times lower than the industry average,  although that leaves absolutely no room for complacency. The cost of a single loss can be between 4-11 times its original value, hence the TAPA standards can significantly contribute to measurable supply chain risk management.”

Asia Pacific

TAPA APAC recorded 215 cargo theft incidents throughout Asia in 2013, a slight drop from the 2012 record high of 228.

Of the 215 cargo thefts, 49% were hijackings, while 20% were thefts of loads from trailers.

Lee Chan Wai, TAPA APAC IIS Lead, said, “The average loss value per incident increased from $377,307 in 2012 to $620,954 in 2013. Clothing/Footwear and Metal products accounted for 56% of the recorded IIS incidents in 2013.”

Violent truck hijacks accounted for 51% of Asia’s total cargo crime incidents in 2013.

Europe, Middle East & Africa

Cargo crime figures for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region for 2013 showed a 66% increase in the number of incidents reported to TAPA’s Incident Information Service (IIS), with an average loss figure for the 1,145 recorded crimes of €235,000.

The loss value of the 10 biggest cargo crimes in the region last year was over €55 million.

In the first quarter of 2014, a total of 216 cargo crime incidents were reported in EMEA, including 32 separate thefts of goods each involving losses in excess of €100,000.

The average loss figure for the 1 January-31 March period for all recorded incidents was over €210,000.

The biggest single crime in Q1 was the theft of €5-6 million of smartphones in Paris close to the city’s Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Americas

In the first quarter of 2014, TAPA Americas’ Incident Information Service (IIS) recorded a total of 196 thefts in the United States, with 76 thefts in January, 43 in February and 77 in March.

The average loss value per incident during the quarter was $216,208 and there were 47 separate thefts with values over $100,000.

The largest single crime was the theft of a truckload of cowboy boots stolen from Carrolton, Texas, which had a declared value of $2,261,495.