Addressing security threats to inland transport focus of OSCE meeting
VIENNA, 12 December 2011 – Experts from 20 countries and international organizations working in the OSCE region met today in Vienna to discuss aspects of inland transport security.
Opening the meeting, the Director General of the Belgian Federal Ministry for Public Service Mobility and Transport, René Van Bever, said: “Today, inland transport security is a universal problem. All over the world, freight carriers are confronted on a daily basis with cargo crime, transported dangerous goods can be transformed into lethal weapons, and the threat of bomb attacks on public transport cannot totally be excluded in any place in the world.”
During the two-day event, experts will present their views on transport security issues in the road, rail and inland waterways sectors. They will discuss weaknesses and threats in the area of transport security and ways to improve co-ordination and the effectiveness of national and international efforts in making inland transport more secure.
The OSCE Co-ordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities, Goran Svilanović, said: “International terrorism and transnational crime pose serious threats to the transport sector and to our common stability and security.”
He added that inland transport faces a complex range of security risks and is seen as the weakest link in the global supply chain: “Relative to ports and airports, inland transportation strikes many as being under-protected, this explains the OSCE’s support and involvement in this field.”
The Director for Transport of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Eva Molnar, pointed out the close inter-linkage between transport and trade facilitation on the one hand, and improved supply chain security on the other hand: “In this regard, governments’ attention should not stop at modernizing their customs administration and simplifying border crossing procedures. Inter-agency co-operation is as important as international collaboration.”
Some 40 international transport security experts, academics and government representatives from transport ministries and other relevant agencies from across the OSCE region are attending the meeting and will develop recommendations. The conference proceedings, including expert papers and reviews, will be published by the OSCE and UNECE.
The meeting is organized jointly by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the Transport Division of UNECE with the financial support of Belgium and Kazakhstan.