By all accounts, South Africa
seems to be doing as well, or
as badly, as the rest of the world
in terms of preparedness for the
Solas regulation, but many of those
polled by FTW indicated that the
relevant authorities had not reacted
as quickly to the announcement by
IMO as they could have.
An exports manager for a major
automotive manufacturer and
exporter noted that information
around the regulation – from the
relevant authorities – had been
“sadly lacking” and that when it was
eventually shared, it was far too
late. “We still have no clarity on how
to handle less than container load
(LCL) cargo,” she said.
An export manager told FTW:
“There was very little notice to
traders and exporters and the
last-minute appointment of South
African Maritime Safety Authority
(Samsa) approved certifiers for
Method 2 left us in the dark about a
lot of issues.”
Toni Lee Sykes, export manager
for Customs Services, added that
verification agencies didn’t seem to
have a set process in place advising
what steps to follow to verify a
weight based on a weighbridge
certificate.
Ashwin Bhugeloo, head of
integrated business solutions at the
FPT Group, disagreed with these
sentiments, telling FTW that “several
engagement sessions had been held
with various role players and industry
bodies on a local and national level.”
The chief operations officer of a
freight forwarding company said
that South Africa appeared to be
well ahead, with many accredited
auditors conducting audits on
shippers for Method 2.
“There does appear to be some
confusion though on Method 1 and
the acceptable scales/weighbridges,”
she added.
Shipping manager at tyre export
company Etraction, Pradeep
Waidyahara, pointed to the free-ofcharge
container weighing systems
at certain United States ports, saying
this would help shippers meet the
requirements without too much extra
burden on the authorities and the
exporters.
“It would make sense for Transnet
Port Terminals to introduce weighing
services. They could increase
terminal handling charges.”
