How Honest Are Security Seals?

‘Honesty is the best policy’ is something we all have heard of, but how is it related to the security seals? When going through the supply chain, it is obvious that the cargo is exposed and vulnerable to cargo theft and unauthorized access.

Such law-breaking activities need to be tracked down on time that in parts is made possible with the aid of security seals.  Well, as much as security seals maintain the integrity of cargo, they also indicate the honesty of the supply chain and alert the receiver of any discrepancy if present. Security seals, as the name suggests, might give an idea that they protect the product against any theft and pose a barrier to cargo thieves’ success.

However, security seals do not prevent cargo theft but rather provide evidence for the same. It is because security seals are not impeccable and can be removed with the aid of a bolt cutter. Security seals do not prevent their removal by the cargo thieves, and in some cases, the thieves might even drive off the entire trailer, and one cannot question the quality of the seals in such cases. However, these security seals can certainly provide tamper evidence.  With that being said, it is noteworthy that security seals are a vital part of the cargo supply chain that maintains integrity and adds to the cargo’s security by indicating whether or not there was a theft or any kind of discrepancy during its journey.

They provide a certain level of transparency to the cargo shipments. Adding to all of these functions is the fact that these security seals are very cost-effective and user friendly. They require no special knowledge before their handling and are easy to put on the containers and trailers.Some cargo thieves specialize in getting their way out with the theft without even touching the seals. To avoid this from happening, shipping companies use new and advanced seals that meet the requirements of ISO PAS 17712, are extremely difficult to break-open, and provide more tamper evidence. Different seals such as bolt seals, luggage seals, cable seals, etc. provide different levels of security and tamper evidence, and the type of seal to be used differs with the type of shipments. In the case of high-value cargo shipments, tracking technologies (GPS tracking) known as electronic escorts are used.