The nine-page document is the result of a four-year preparation process. It urges member states to switch over from a philosophy of questioning whether explosives can be controlled to asking how it can be achieved. The Commission asks in general terms for more attention to be paid to secure storage and transport, as well as to the traceability of explosives.
Recalling previous legislation such as the 1997 Seveso II Directive or the Fertiliser Regulation, the Commission is promoting the objective of securing the whole supply chain for industrial explosives and other material that may enter into bombs. Better measures for detecting explosives in high-risk areas such as airports and more international co-operation involving various transnational networks of law enforcement officials, as well as a yet-to-be-established explosives security expert group, are to top the catalogue of measures off.
