The global economic downturn will lead to an increase in incidents of cargo crime in 2009, warns the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA). The latest statistics from the association’s Incident Information Service (IIS) for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region show 3,756 reported incidents of cargo crime during 2008 with a total loss value of more than ¢ã170.6 million. This figure will continue to grow with incident data still being collated for last year, according to TAPA. Just over 10 per cent of crimes reported in 32 countries in EMEA in 2008 were classified by TAPA as ‘major incidents’. Over 72 per cent of the reported crimes were received from the UK, representing 2,720 incidents. Spain and Germany were the second and third highest reporting crime areas with 254 and 207 reported thefts. In addition, 1,775 incidents of truck theft were reported involving empty vehicles. ¡°The figures we are starting to see for 2008 reinforce our message that no one can afford to be complacent about cargo crime,” said Gilad Solnik, IIS Lead for TAPA EMEA. Solnik said that while TAPA’s Freight Security Requirements and Truck Security Requirements, along with the sharing of crime data, market intelligence and co-operation with law enforcement agencies had helped TAPA members reduce their overall losses, “we expect the level of threat to increase considerably as a direct result of the economic downturn.”