Commission Regulation (EC) No 1138/2004 of 21 June 2004 establishing a common definition of critical parts of security restricted areas at airports
Date: 2004-06-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: air safety, civil aviation, crew, safety standard

L 221/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.6.2004

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1138/2004

of 21 June 2004

establishing a common definition of critical parts of security restricted areas at airports

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

the
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 2320/2002 of
European Parliament and of
the Council of 16 December
2002 establishing common rules in the field of civil aviation
security (1), and in particular Article 4(2)
thereof and point
2.3(a) of the Annex thereto,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Pursuant
to Regulation (EC) No 2320/2002 the
Commission is required to establish a common definition
of the critical parts of security restricted areas. Such a
definition should cover at least those parts of an airport
to which departing passengers, after screening, have
access and those parts through which departing hold
baggage, after screening, may pass or in which it may
be held.

All staff, including flight crews, and the items they carry,
should be screened before being allowed access to the
critical parts of security restricted areas.

An exemption should be allowed for parts of an airport
through which departing hold baggage, after screening,
may pass or in which it may be held,
if the baggage,
having been secured could be handled by unscreened
security.
staff without
Measures should be taken to ensure that such secured
baggage has not been tampered with before being
loaded onto an aircraft.

compromising the

level of

At airports where very few staff have access to security
restricted areas, a balance should be struck between the
need to ensure security and the need to ensure opera-
tional effectiveness.

Unscreened staff should be allowed access into critical
parts of security restricted areas of an airport only on
condition that they are at all times escorted by screened
and authorised staff.

(6) Where other unscreened persons may have had access to
critical parts of security restricted areas, a full security
search should be carried out in order to ensure that
critical parts of security restricted areas do not contain
prohibited
are not
articles. Where
then immediately
continuously maintained as
before being re-established as
such they should be
subjected to a full security search.

critical
such,

parts

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee instituted
by Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2320/2002,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
At airports where more than 40 staff members hold
airport identification cards giving access to security restricted
areas, the critical parts of security restricted areas shall be at
least the following:

(a) any part of an airport

to which departing passengers,
including their cabin baggage, after screening, have access;

(b) any part of an airport

through which, after screening,
departing hold baggage may pass or in which it may be
held, if the baggage has not been secured.

2.
For the purposes of paragraph 1, any part of an airport
shall be regarded as a critical part of security restricted areas for
as long as:

(a) departing passengers,

including their cabin baggage, after

screening, are present in that part;

(1) OJ L 355, 30.12.2002, p. 1.

(b) departing hold baggage, after screening, is passing through
or being held in that part, if it has not been secured.

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 221/7

For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, an aircraft, bus,
3.
baggage cart or other means of transport or a walkway or
jetway shall be regarded as a part of an airport.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation ‘secured baggage’ shall mean
screened departing hold baggage physically protected so as to
prevent the introduction of any objects.

Article 3

At airports where no more than 40 staff members hold airport
identification cards giving access to security restricted areas,
Member States may continue to identify the critical parts of
security restricted areas in accordance with the second subpar-
agraph of point 2.3(a) of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No
2320/2002.

Article 4

1.
All staff, including flight crews, and the items they carry,
shall be screened before being allowed access to the parts
referred to in point (a) of Article 1(1) wherever these parts
form part of the terminal building.

2.
No later than 1 January 2006, Member States shall have
introduced arrangements under which all staff, including flight
crews, and the items they carry, shall be screened before
being allowed access to the parts referred to in point (a) of
Article 1(1).

3.
No later than 1 July 2009, Member States shall have
introduced arrangements under which all staff, including flight
crews, and the items they carry, shall be screened before
being allowed access to the parts referred to in point (b) of
Article 1(1).

Article 5

No later than 1 July 2009, where secured baggage is handled by
unscreened staff, measures shall be taken to ensure that that
baggage has not been tampered with before being loaded onto
an aircraft.

Article 6

1.
By way of derogation from Article 4, staff need not be
screened before being allowed access to critical parts of security
restricted areas provided that they are escorted by a screened
and authorised staff member.

The escort
shall be responsible
committed by the staff member being escorted.

for any security breach

By way of derogation from Article 4, screened staff
2.
members who temporarily leave critical parts of
security
restricted areas need not be screened on their return provided
that they have been under constant observation sufficient to
ensure that
introduce prohibited articles into
those critical parts of security restricted areas.

they do not

Article 7

Without prejudice to Article 6, whenever unscreened persons
may have had access to critical parts of security restricted areas,
a full security search of those parts shall be carried out.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 2004.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 21 June 2004.

For the Commission

Loyola DE PALACIO
Vice-President