Business, Feature, Freight News

Cargo crime surge alarms TAPA

[ August 8, 2016   //   Chris ]

Cargo crime in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region is still growing at an alarming rate, with the 598 new  losses in the second quarter of 2016, up 93%, says the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA).

The 18 countries in the region saw 21 major thefts involving a loss value of €100,000 or more, eight of them in the UK.

The biggest single loss reported was a violent truck robbery in Northamptonshire on 15 April and the theft of toys valued at over €3.1m and the theft of €1 million worth of hazelnuts from a warehouse  in Piedmont, Northern Italy in April.

TAPA’s intelligence shows 91.4% of all reported crimes occurred in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Russia and Italy. Overall, 47.5% or 284 of recorded crimes in the quarter took place in the UK, mostly in the East of England and the East Midlands.

TAPA is considering a new standard to increase the number and quality of secure parking locations in Europe.

Most losses take place when trucks stop at unsecured parking locations, often when drivers are required to take mandatory rest breaks.

Food and drink was the most stolen goods in the whole of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016, Chairman of TAPA EMEA, Thorsten Neumann, said: “These figures should be a great cause for concern for all manufacturers and logistics service providers because they clearly show the escalation of cargo crime.

People wrongly assume that our crime data relates entirely to incidents suffered by TAPA EMEA members. In fact, very few of these losses were suffered by our members because of the risk management strategies they have put in place, including adoption of the TAPA Security Standards.

“The greatest risk is to the industry-at-large and, in particular, companies that have yet to fully recognise the issue of cargo crime. We want to stress the importance of companies reporting cargo crimes to the police in the first place.”

 

 

Tags: TAPA