Could the new container weighing rules lead to fraud?

Whose problem is noncompliance
in a port,
especially if TPT will not be
weighing the containers at
the port? And what is the
failsafe measure to prevent
shippers and/or transporters
from working around the
system?
These were some of
the concerns raised at a
container weight verification
presentation by the South
African Maritime Safety
Association (Samsa) in
Pretoria last week.
CEO of the South
African Association of
Ship Operators and Agents
(Saasoa), Peter Besnard,
indicated to FTW on the
sidelines of the presentation
that there could potentially
be problems around
the issuing of weighing
certificates, particularly
if the weighing was not
managed by a Samsaapproved
company.
This is a possibility as
Samsa will only regulate the
second method of weight
verification which involves
weighing cargo packages
individually (including the
mass of pallets, dunnage
and other packing and
securing material to be
packed in the container),
adding the tare weight of the
container and using that to
calculate the full mass.
According to Solas
regulations, as FTW
understands it, there is
no prescribed entity for
weighing the full container –
the first method suggested.
And since there is a shortage
of weighbridges along South
African roads, particularly
in the Gauteng province,
there is a gap for warehouses
and depots and any other
entrepreneurially spirited
person to set up a weighing
facility.
“Should a weighing
facility be found to
be issuing fraudulent
certificates – or not
weighing according to
Solas specifications – who
would be responsible for
shutting it down?” queried
Besnard.
A director at a global
forwarding company
mentioned bribery at
weighbridges – or other
weighing facilities. “How
will the shipping lines
know if the declared VGM
is correct or if it is simply
ref lected as correct
because money changed
hands somewhere along
the line?” he asked.
Samsa’s Kirsty
Goodwin said that
Samsa would enforce
the regulations through
port state control
inspections,
ad hoc
inspections
and
continuous
auditing of the Samsaappointed
third parties
for the second weighing
method.
The inspectors have yet
to be appointed by Samsa
but Goodwin noted that
they would need to have
some auditing background
and of course be fully
aware of the container
weighing regulations. But
our (Samsa’s) involvement
in non-compliance only
begins once the container
is lifted onto the ship,” she
said.
And if shippers or
forwarders are found to
be knowingly providing
false information, or fail
to provide the required
information, they would be
subject to a hefty fine or
12 months’ imprisonment,
said Goodwin.