
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;
(b) departing hold baggage, after screening, is passing through or being held in that part, if it has not been secured.
3. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, an aircraft, bus, 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 subparagraph 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 for any security breach committed by the staff member being escorted.
2. By way of derogation from Article 4, screened staff 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 they do not introduce prohibited articles into those critical parts of security restricted areas.
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