new crime-busting force is being set up in the Netherlands to counter an epidemic of attacks on the country's supply chain infrastructure.

Statistics reported by the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) revealed that in the last year there were over 400 incidents involving theft of goods in transit. Total "theft of load" losses through 2007 amounted to $450 million, according to TAPA sources.

Says Steve McHugh, acting vice chairman of TAPA for Europe: "The huge escalation in the number of these types of crime in the Netherlands and the huge cost of losses is forcing many manufacturers of high value or high risk products to seriously consider ways for their supply chains to bypass the Netherlands."

TAPA estimates that for every euro in value of supply chain thefts it costs manufacturers another five euros in consequential losses to investigate the incident, replace the stolen goods and make up for lost production or delivery cycles.

McHugh, as freight security program manager for microprocessor manufacturer Intel, immediately identifies with the problem, which, he says, appears to be becoming more ambitious and audacious.

"Previous thefts have mainly involved criminals cutting open the sides of trucks to steal cargo," he says. "But a worrying new trend in the last quarter of 2007 has seen a rise in the number of hijacks and burglaries at or near Schiphol airport, including armed raids."

But insists McHugh, TAPA is not pointing the finger at Schiphol airport.

"This is a crime wave that is attacking all aspects of the logistics supply chain in the Netherlands where many major companies have their main European distribution hubs."

He adds: "The airport has already taken a strong lead in reducing 'on-airport' crime, much of which has been achieved incidental to counter terrorist measures. What they still seem unable to counter is the flow of inside information which allows criminal gangs to target specific loads as they move out of the airport."

McHugh also believes that the Dutch Government authorities may not give the issue of supply chain theft a high enough priority.

"The Dutch authorities have been very effective and successful in promoting the Netherlands as a prime European gateway and distribution hub, but do not appear to have been so concerned at securing the country's supply chain."

So concerned had TAPA become at the pandemic of supply chain crime in the Netherlands that it convened at special one-day conference in Amsterdam in September. More than 100 government officials, manufacturers, law enforcement agencies and transport and logistic providers attended the event.

Says David Reid, acting chairman of TAPA for Europe: "The meeting was not about finger pointing, but about highlighting the scale of the problem and the damage it was doing to the reputation of the Netherlands as a premier distribution centre in Europe."

But he adds: "There is no question that if this issue is not addressed then the Dutch economy will suffer if major businesses move their supply chains elsewhere."

The key aspects of the meeting were to discuss the importance of helping the police authorities to put crime on the political agenda and also to look at ways for manufacturers and logistics providers to reduce cargo's vulnerability to theft.

Barely a month after the Amsterdam summit, TAPA announced the creation of a TAPA Crime Reduction Taskforce for the Netherlands.

It will coordinate the efforts of the supply chain industry toward creating a more effective partnership with government ministries, public prosecution authorities and the police.

"This is not about setting-up a police-led crime fighting force in the Netherlands," says Steve McHugh. "It is more about establishing a cocoordinated effort in which each element will be able to understand the overall goals of this initiative and work towards a more effective response to the problem."

The broader-based approach in the Netherlands, differs from the response TAPA took to a similar problem at the U.K.'s London Heathrow Airport, which started to suffer from a similar supply chain crime epidemic. There, a police-led initiative under the banner of Operation Grafton tackled the criminals head-on.

Detective superintendent Jose DeFreitas, current head of Operation Grafton, told the Amsterdam conference that cargo crime losses around Heathrow had been reduced from $44 million in 2003 to just $575,000 in 2007.

But he added that the strong police focus on the London gateway might have led some U.K. criminal gangs to turn their attention to softer targets in the Netherlands.

TAPA says it is still anxious to get a stronger and more positive response from the Dutch Government. To that end a further initiative will be to lobby the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs to emphasize the true nature, magnitude and potential economic impact of crime in the supply chain.

"In particular, we want the ministry to prioritize the renewal of its Cargo Crime Reduction covenant which it is currently in the process of renewing," says McHugh.

TAPA also wants to take the issue of supply chain crime to the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels with the objective of achieving accreditation of its certification mechanisms.

"This is just the first step in an ongoing programme to fight cargo crime that TAPA wants to become increasingly proactive and high level," says McHugh. "This initiative is about tackling this type of crime, not just at a local level in the Netherlands, but also across Europe, which last year saw losses to the value of $11.50 billion."

Note:

… Briefly

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