A well-known mail order company in Hamburg commissioned a Spanish forwarding agent to transport a cargo of ladies wear from Spain to Hamburg. The lorry driver parked the vehicle in a heavily frequented car park in Spain and went to eat. When he returned, a part of the cargo had been stolen.

The subsequent liability lawsuit dealt with the issue of whether the forwarding agent could be charged with gross negligence. The District Court of Giessen affirmed this. The unsupervised parking of a lorry in a frequently visited car park in a foreign country with a valuable cargo, which was only secured with a canvas cover that was easy to remove, constituted gross negligence. Criminal intervention should always be reckoned with in such a place. A second driver (co-driver) should at least have been deployed to watch the vehicle and cargo in the absence of the driver.

Verdict of the District Court of Giessen of 15/05/1991 S 567/95NJW-RR 1997, 228r+s 1997, 86

European Commission regulations for distinctly increased security standards for ships, ports, terminals and containers, as well as for freight vehicles:

Since the appalling events of September 11th 2001 in America, the European Commission has, together with other organisations, been more heavily involved than ever in attempting to improve security in the entire transport chain. The goal is to make the transport chain considerably more secure with regard to break-in and manipulation and easier to monitor. Despite the introduction of many new measures, there should be no distortion of competition or breakdowns in handling.

The commission receives a large amount of information (partially through direct cooperation) from the following organisations:

• IMO = International Maritime Organisation
• SOLAS = Convention fort he Safety of life at Sea
• ISPS = International Ship an Port Facility Security Code
• WCO = World Customs Organisation (Zoll)
• G 8 = The 8 largest world economic countries
• DHS = Department of Homeland in America

The Congress in America passed the "Maritime Security Act" on November 14th 2002 and thus made a major push in the area of "security". The new ADSp (General German Shipping Regulations) regulations followed in 2004 and the European Commission will introduce its own binding security concept in 2007.

• Europe has 35,000 km of coastline
• There are 1,500 container vessels registered with the EU
• The total export is € 1 billion and the import € 1.06 billion
• The EU exports around 10 million contains to America alone. The security measures will also be enforced quickly on other continents.
• There are 40 million TEU (20 feet equivalent units) movements in the 15 largest European ports.
• Number 1 is Rotterdam with 9 million
• Number 2 is Hamburg with 8 million
• Number 5 is Bremerhaven with 4 million TEU

Locking up of the cargo will follow the securing of the cargo, as heralded by the imminent wave of specifications.

Summary of the specification for C-TPAT with regard to the TSR – Disposable lock and the TSR – Keeper in accordance with the American ASTM standard:

Since September 11th 2001, the American government (the Department of Homeland Security) has taken many measures in the war on terrorism that show their effect also in Europe. Most of us know about the intensified measures on airports; the measures have a similar effect on the worldwide "supply chain". This means that our "supply chain" in Europe has to become secure with regard to manipulation as well. In November 2002, the American Congress passed the "Maritime Security Act" (C-TPAT) and since July/August 2004 there are even European and national laws for this

Trans-Safety supports these actions by producing or importing a series of mechanical and electronic locking systems that prevent tampering and make visible any tampering that has taken place. The American ASTM (equivalent to DIN in Germany) has issued guidelines on this subject and is testing the various different products

We are happy to inform you that products in our SEALOCK line for the tampering-free locking of sea containers are also listed in the ASTM Class F 1158 (mechanical seals).

Our TSR – Disposable lock has the highest C-TPAT classification and the TSR – Keeper also has, as one of the very few, the highest classification – ASTM F1158 Class 1 FFFFFF. With these locking systems, we have therefore attained the highest possible level. We also meet the requirements of the certification association TAPA.