Reference
The draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to Certain Transport-Security Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation was drafted by the Ministry of Transport and the Interior Ministry pursuant to a list of Presidential instructions of March 2, 2011 and a Presidential instruction of February 14, 2012.
· The draft law stipulates the following provisions: Define the term “transport-infrastructure facility” and the concept “electric city-level ground passenger transport”;
· Introduce the term “transport-security forces” and stipulate the relevant requirements for training these forces;
· Introduce a system of concepts listing persons responsible for ensuring transport safety among transport-security forces who must be duly trained in order to fulfil the requirements needed to ensure the safety and security of transport-infrastructure facilities and means of transport for the purpose of protecting them from illegal tampering.
The draft law proposes stipulating the relevant procedure to limit access to records on the results of vulnerability-assessment checks, which are part of plans to ensure the security and safety of transport-infrastructure facilities and means of transport.
Article 10 of the Federal Law on Transport Security stipulates various restrictions during the employment of persons directly linked with ensuring transport security. At the same time, the Federal Law does not stipulate the relevant mechanism of restrictions for persons who already directly ensure transport security, as well as the mechanism of restrictions for active personnel who will be directly involved in ensuring transport security.
The draft law proposes spreading the relevant restrictions to hiring transport-security officials, as well as to persons already engaged in this work.
Moreover, the relevant amendments expressly forbid persons affiliated with organisations that have been recognised as terrorist organisations in line with court verdicts, from directly ensuring transport security. With due account for the fact that the security and protection of the transport sector, transport-infrastructure facilities and means of transport from illegal actions, including terrorist acts, which threaten the health and lives of people, cause material damage and directly affect state security and the defence capability of the Russian Federation, the draft law stipulates amendments to the Federal Law On the Procedure of Foreign Investment in Legal Entities Having Strategic Significance for Ensuring National Defence and State Security. These amendments define transport security as a type of activity of strategic significance.
In order to improve the technical security and protection of the transport sector, transport-infrastructure facilities and means of transport from illegal tampering, and to ensure state control over the operation and use of technical transport-security systems, the draft law proposes stipulating that specific requirements for the functional properties of products intended to protect transport-infrastructure facilities and means of transport from illegal tampering, as well as relations associated with the use of products intended to protect transport-infrastructure facilities and means of transport from illegal tampering, shall be set forth by the Government of the Russian Federation.
The draft law also stipulates the following steps to improve legal and organisational measures ensuring effective protection of the population, including protection from illegal tampering:
· Inspection of passengers, their handbags and luggage at transport infrastructure facilities and aboard vehicles, and also ordering duly authorised officials of transport-security units to conduct these inspections, including involvement of police officers in cases stipulated by Russian legislation;
· The relevant procedure to list explosives, weapons or other devices, systems, items and substances that are either banned, or that have limited access to the transport-security zone or part of its zone, with regard to certain transport categories;
· Introduction of mandatory certification of technical devices and systems to ensure transport security;
· Introduction of a mandatory certification of transport-safety forces and personnel directly involved in ensuring transport security;
· The mandatory accreditation of transport-security organisations (units) responsible for protecting transport facilities from illegal tampering.
The draft law was examined and approved by participants in the April 18, 2013 Government meeting.