by Birgit Baltzer, Funeral Director, President of the EFFS

People has traveled abroad way back in history, but the frequency and amount of people who are traveling the world has risen considerably during the past 25 years.
Due to this development the frequency of people who die when abroad, is an ever-actual task in our trade.

The regulations
We do, however, struggle with more or less outdated regulations in that respect. In the international perspective, transport of deceased persons does not have the highest priority amongst politicians. The various regulations (if any) in that respect have not been developed to match modern transport means.

In the European area we still have to deal with transport agreements from 1936 (The Berlin Agreement) and from 1973 (The Strassbourg Agreement). At the time when these agreements were issued, they were relevant according to their time. One should think that all countries would ratify the latest of these agreements, but that did not happen. The matter of fact is that the 1936 agreement still is in use in some countries.

Contact to politicians
During the last 10-15 years strong efforts have been made, to draw the European Politicians attention to it that new and up to date regulations are needed. A working committee in the European Federation of Funeral Services (EFFS) has approached members of the European Parliament to try to convince them that a modernization of the rules is needed. This is a very long and heavy process, but something must be done to bring regulations up to date.

One of the experiences during these efforts is that the item really does not interest the majority of politicians. There is, in other words, no prestige in dealing with this subject.

Seen in a world wide perspective the field is covered by national regulations and/or lack of such. The aircraft organization IATA has a set of rules that more or less is based upon the old fashioned European agreements from 1936 and 1973.

The Biocide Directive
Another thing is that the European Politicians recently have agreed on a new Biocide Directive, according to which Formaldehyde and products containing Formaldehyde, which is used for embalming of deceased persons, shortly (September 2007) will not be a legal chemical, and it will probably be totally forbidden about 9 months hereafter. The peculiar thing about this is that no appropriate alternative to the Formaldehyde has been foreseen.
This situation will cause problem both what concerns international transports and in countries where embalming is a tradition.

The Thanatopraxy working committee
In the autumn of 2006 a working committee was organized within the EFFS to deal with the situation around the biocides. The committee is composed of suppliers of chemicals for embalming, and of experienced embalmers, and they are working intensely to find a proper alternative to the Formaldehyde.

What concern international transports from outside the European Union area, the use of chemicals containing Formaldehyde will probably continue in the years to come. It is too early to say whether the EU Directive on biocides, will be adopted by the World Health Organization or other regulation will follow.

The paperwork
Another side of international transports is the paperwork, the documentation about the deceased. This part of the transport field is very complex, because each country has its own rules and regulations about registration and documentation of death. Even though certain elements in issuing the Laisser Passer for a dead are foreseen in the transport agreements, some countries have their own regulations that has to be taken into consideration.
Some countries demand all paperwork to be translated into their national language if a citizen is to be repatriated to his native country. Demands like this now and then delays the repatriation considerably. Other countries are ruled by as well law as a certain bureaucracy (read corruption).

The FIAT/IFTA has issued an International Transportation Document for the Dead. This document enables the Funeral Directors to make notes about a series of details regarding the deceased and other relevant details. FIAT/IFTA members can purchase this document from the FIAT/IFTA Secretariat in the Netherlands.

Security
Most international transports of deceased persons now a days are carried out by aircraft. During the past 30 years the security level connected to air transportation has increased considerably. When an international transport is prepared, it is necessary to be aware of it that any security demand is thoroughly fulfilled to avoid any unnecessary delay. Furthermore it is important to wrap the coffin to ensure that at its appearance is anonymous. We owe this courtesy to both the deceased, his relatives and the people who handle the coffin on its journey.
All coffins are X-rayed before being loaded onto the aircraft, and it is absolutely necessary that any relevant documentation follow the coffin all the way during the transport.

Conclusion
International transport of deceased persons is a very wide spectrum issue. I have chosen to describe those issues that from the Funeral Directors point of view seems to be the most relevant. Many of the paragraphs in this text could be a subject for deeper analyzes, but I have not seen it as my task to do this, and it would anyway take en expert in each field to do so.