Representing a 37.4% year-on-year increase, TAPA says the 2015 data demonstrates greater awareness of cargo crime within law enforcement agencies in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, as well as increased willingness by police forces to share data with the Association in an effort to enhance the security of their supply chains.
Thorsten Neumann, Chairman of TAPA EMEA, commented on the new trend: “We know that the number of cargo crimes reported by TAPA and others still only reflects what may be a relatively low percentage of overall cargo crimes. Often this is because freight thefts are recorded by law enforcement agencies only as commercial property or vehicle crimes so it is difficult to extract the data that specifically relates to supply chain losses. However, this is changing and in 2015 we received a record number of intelligence updates from police authorities, which is extremely encouraging. This is enabling us to build an increasingly accurate picture of cargo crime in our region.”
Statistics from Belgium demonstrate the benefit law enforcement agencies can have on the incidence of reporting. In 2014, only 12 cargo thefts in Belgium were reported to TAPA EMEA’s IIS; this figure had risen to 341 just a year later, thanks to Belgian police sharing information with TAPA regarding cargo crime incidents. For this reason, TAPA continues to promote partnerships with law enforcement agencies in other countries in the EMEA region, such as Germany, France, Italy and South Africa, where facilities and goods in transit are particularly vulnerable to attack.
With the addition of police information-sharing, crime rates in Belgium are suddenly much closer to those of major supply chain gateways such as the Netherlands, which recorded 458 cargo crime incidents in 2015, and the UK, with 367 thefts or attempted thefts recorded last year. The Association therefore warns manufacturers and logistics service providers not to assume that a country with a low reported crime rate represents a lower level of risk - it may simply be that companies, insurers and LEAs in those countries do not currently share incident data.
In the last year, TAPA has received information on cargo crimes that span 29 countries across EMEA, five of which involved product losses of more than €1m, with the greatest individual loss coming in at €3m, occurring in Italy. A total of 70 smaller incidents reported loss values in excess of €100,000.
“The real trend we are seeing is that cargo thieves are now prepared to target virtually any product,” Thorsten went on to say. “When TAPA was launched in EMEA 15 years ago, it was to help manufacturers of high value technology products and their logistics partners to combat losses from their supply chains. High value technology is still a target – but, now, so is everything else. Products with a low unit value can be just as attractive because of the high volumes they move in. And, these products are often easier to dispose of and harder to trace” he concluded.
Also increasing is the number of violent attacks on truck drivers by cargo thieves. IIS recorded not only incidences of drivers being threatened with weapons, but additionally physical assaults, some even culminating in drivers being kidnapped or hospitalised. Commenting on this disturbing trend, Thorsten remarked: “Using intelligence to combat cargo crime is not just about protecting goods owned by major global corporations, it is also about protecting the wellbeing of people working in the supply chain that we rely on to deliver our goods." The major concern is that, in addition to matters of pay and working conditions, the potential dangers associated with the job will further discourage individuals from entering the profession, thus exacerbating the struggle to attract new recruits. Consequently, TAPA is encouraging all companies to evaluate their supply chain security to ensure they are taking the necessary measures to protect their people as well as their goods.
