Industry workshops guidelines for mandatory container weight verification
Those in the business
of container shipping
should beware – you have
less than nine months
before container weight
verification becomes
mandatory in July next year.
And, wherever you fit
into the movement of
containers, you must to
be up to speed on all the
relevant requirements of
this latest International
Maritime Organisation
(IMO) container weight
verification protocol.
“SA exporters and pack
houses,” said Dave Watts,
maritime consultant to the
SA Association of Freight
Forwarders (Saaff), “should
make themselves aware
of the new requirements
and ensure that they have
sufficient weighing and
recording capacity.”
And the first of a
planned series of national
workshops on the IMO
protocol held in Durban
last week by the SA
Maritime Safety Authority
(Samsa) revealed a threat
behind the requirement
for accurate declaration
of cargo information
(including weight).
This, said Samsa, has
been a legal requirement
in this country since
2004 under the Merchant
Shipping Carriage of
Cargoes Regulations.
They basically say:
“(6) Every shipper or
forwarder commits an
offence who—
(a) fails to provide
appropriate cargo
information as required by
this regulation;
(b) furnishes cargo
information that he or she
knows to be false; or
(c) recklessly furnishes
cargo information that is
false.
And, now that the
2004 regulation will
have a practical means
of enforcement where
container weight
declaration is concerned,
if you are caught
contravening any of its
conditions you could end
up with a fine or even 12
months in the clanger.
Samsa also outlined the
progress made so far in
meeting the requirements
of these UN Safety of Life
at Sea (Solas) amendments.
“They stressed that the
requirement for weight
verification would rest
exclusively with the shipper
(ie, the entity appearing
on the bill of lading as the
shipper),” Watts told FTW.
“So, as soon as Samsa
appoints outside parties
as verification agencies, a
process of verifying shippers
– or other entities packing
containers on behalf of
shippers – will commence.”
And, to help clarify
the issue, Samsa will
be publishing a marine
notice – which will outline
their requirements for the
implementation of the
protocol.
“These guidelines,” Watts
said, “will indicate what
accredited verification
agencies will require and
what shippers will need
to have in place to be
approved. It is expected
that the guidelines will be
available once the current
series of workshops is
completed.”
He also pointed out that
Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT) intended that the
export pre-advice message
be used to indicate the
certified container weight,
the shipper’s verification
code and electronic
signature – all of which
would require additional
fields on the pre-advice
message.
“There may be a need for
some possible changes to
current processes of preadvice
submission,” Watts
added. “Nonetheless,
containers without the
necessary endorsements
on the pre-advice will
not be allowed to access
terminals.”
Samsa believes that, due
to challenges accessing
weigh bridges, most
shippers will utilise what it
terms “Method 2”.
This is a process of
weighing each package
loaded into a container
along with dunnage etc
and adding the total to the
container’s tare weight.
“Clearly,” said Watts,
“shippers or their
appointed packing
facilities will require
accurate weighing capacity
– along with some kind
of quality management
system such as ISO 9001.”
And, if you haven’t had
any thoughts on this yet,
you’d better move fast.
Nine months to D-day.
