The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) and the industry as a whole is optimistic that if a new proposal to be brought before the EU's Regulatory Committee for Civil Aviation Security (AVSEC) tomorrow is approved,

then some of those countries that have already applied for airports' security recognition by the EU could, in theory, be approved very quickly.

This could be the beginning of the end of confiscations of hand carried goods from passengers in transit at several leading airports, although it is likely to be a few months before any real improvement is felt.

Basically, tomorrow?s meeting is proposing that instead of seeking time consuming bi-lateral agreements with each individual country to cure the transit confiscation problem, the Commission will operate under a uni-lateral agreement. This keeps the issue internally-based within the EU, so no new madate needs to be sought for its actions.

The bottom line is that all passengers' tamper evident bags travelling with them from those countries included on an approved first wave list will be deemed to be safe.

ETRC President Frank O'Connell has paid tribute to this creative thinking at the Commission that may now well bring about the beginnings of a solution to this problem much sooner than might otherwise have been possible.

The procedure at tomorrow?s meeting involves no vote, but it will be a final discussion and all of the signs are that a favourable result will ensue with much support for the measure already in existence. Member states will be asked to adopt the proposal being supported by the Commission by written procedure and will then have seven days to respond.

The only negative aspect of this approach is that those third countries that do not recognise the European Commission cannot be included.Most notably, countries that fall into this category include Turkey, Japan and South Africa – none of which are on the list for recognition.

Much more positively, some 10-12 countries are on the list to be approved, with Singapore one of the countries that has been most active in seeking this approval.

IMPORTANT TRANSPORT COMMITTEE MEETING

An important and very high-level meeting with some of the most important individuals responsible for security in Europe took place in Brussels last week with experts and MEP?s stressing that the third country duty free issue should be addressed separately and swiftly.

The meeting was chaired by Paolo Costa (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe), President of the Transport Committee, as well as by MEP?s from both the Transport and Civil Liberties committees.

The experts who gave presentations included Frank O?Connell, Chairman ETRC; Ms. Petra Mengelkoch, Deputy Head of Unit, Aviation Security, Ministry of Transport, Germany; Ms.Marjeta Jager, EU Commission, Director General, Transport and Energy; Ian Hutchinson, ACI EUROPE; and Ms. Niki Tompkinson, Director Transport Security, Department of Transport, UK.

In short the various experts and MEP?s who spoke all stressed that the third country issue should be addressed swiftly and both Ms. Mengelkock (German Presidency) and Ms. Jager (EU Commission) said they were optimistic about the outcome of the important AVSEC Meeting which is scheduled for tomorrow.

Ms. Jager in both her contributions praised Frank O?Connell and the ETRC for its contributions to try and find solutions on the issue.

Good support was shown for the ETRC position from MEPs from both the Transport and Civil Liberties Committees, although there was a significant difference in approach on the fundamental issue.

Members of the Transport Committee indicated their preference for a balance between security and the rights of air passengers, whereas Members of the Civil Liberties Committee questioned the justification and motive behind introducing the ?Draft Liquid Measures? in the first place.Just as significant were Ms. Niki Tompkinson?s comments on technological advances in screening technology.

She referred to ?impressive trials? of new body scanning technology. She also stressed the need for standardised cabin baggage sizes based on IATA standards and stated that a ?cost benefit analysis? was being carried out on this issue.

COMMENT: That the ETRC is now regarded as a trusted party by the European Commission and security experts is there for all to see and as we have said before, this is a tremendous position from which to influence matters.Such a meeting like this would normally take place without any interested parties being allowed to attend, which is testimony to the reputation that ETRC has earned as a body of integrity.