Newsroom
19.04.2021
COESS ACTIVITIES

CoESS joins EU Project to launch a Regional Certification Centre for Explosive Detection Dogs and Certification Standards

In order to strengthen the detection of threats by explosives in public areas and critical infrastructures within the EU member states, a consortium created and led by Palmyra Aviation Advisors, and including CoESS, has been awarded a project grant to create an EU certification standard and to launch a certification centre for explosive detection dogs (EDD).

To date no certifications or harmonised training requirements have been set in place on Member States level.  Recent key EU policies do however require improvement of the performance of EDD as mentioned in both the "2017 EU Action Plan for strengthening protection of public spaces" and the "2020 Union Security Strategy" which calls for improved threat detection in public spaces.

The Regional EU Certification Centre for Explosive Detection Dogs (RECCEDD) will offer both pre-certification training and certification through its non-profit certification centre in Belgium.  This will be offered to various EU law enforcement and licensed security service providers that are offering explosive detection dog services to public operators in Member States.

The consortium created and led by Palmyra Aviation Advisors also comprises, CoESS Confederation of European Security Services, Securitas Transport Aviation Services, Securitas Transport Aviation Security, A-CS Poland, Campus Vesta and Elnoro.

EU standards compliant

The project will create EU certification protocol standards, training standards & procedures foe explosive detection dogs, while the certification facilities will offer certification conditions in realistic environments (sport stadiums, ports, rail stations etc) measuring detection performance against EU listed explosive and firearms threats for both static detection and dynamic searches (moving crowds e.g. transport hubs).

600 to 1000 Explosive Detection Dog Teams to be Certified

This project is set to train and certify between 600 to 1000 explosive dog teams from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, etc. which will provide an excellent start to help fill the current gap of non-certified EDD dogs currently being deployed across EU public spaces (this excludes Police, Customs and Military EDD-Dogs).

In the short term, the project will ensure certification of EDD dogs according EU regulations.  On a medium to long term, the project will establish improved processes of training & certification which can be shared and reproduced in other EU regions leading to strengthening public protection by EU certified EDD dogs.

Project leader Hugo Lücke of Palmyra Aviation Advisors, is thrilled to have been awarded a EU grant for this project: “Thanks to the extensive knowledge of the existing EU transportation and critical infrastructure security rules on EDD certification, Palmyra was able to detect and define the critical factors for this project while incorporating EU recommendations.”

Press contact:

Withlof – Mrs. Catherine Stuyck – +32 495 487 697

Photo by Lewis Wilson on Unsplash