TPT speaks out on weighing obligation

Transnet has ignored its role as a
facilitator of trade, according to
Peter Lamb, senior associate with
legal firm, Norton Rose Fulbright
SA.
This by failing to make
contingencies for containers received
without a verified gross mass (VGM)
as promoted under the guidelines
in the Solas container-weighing
convention and due to become
mandatory on July 1.
“Transnet has decided that it
will not determine the VGM of
containers on the grounds that it’s
the shipper’s obligation to weigh, and
that such weighing
must be done at the
source,” he told FTW.
These points are
not incorrect, he
added. Transnet has
no legal obligation to
weigh the containers.
However, the
guidelines applicable
to containers exported
from SA do make
provision for the
terminal to obtain
the VGM of a packed
container if it is
received in the port terminal facility
without the shipper’s VGM.
“In these circumstances,” Lamb
said, “the terminal may determine
the VGM and seek reimbursement
for the costs from the shipper.”
He pointed out that Clause 13
stated: ‘Notwithstanding that the
shipper is responsible for obtaining
and documenting the verified
gross mass of a packed container,
situations may occur where a packed
container is delivered to the port
facility without the shipper having
provided the required verified
gross mass of the container. Such
a container should not be loaded
onto the ship until its verified gross
mass has been obtained. In order to
allow the continued efficient onward
movement of such containers, the
master or representative and the
terminal representative may obtain
the verified gross mass of the packed
container on behalf of the shipper.
This may be done by weighing the
packed container in the terminal
or elsewhere. The verified gross
mass so obtained should be used in
preparation of the ship loading plan.’
“Whether or how to do this should
be agreed between the commercial
parties, including the apportionment
of costs,” Lamb said.
“But, as far as we know,
Transnet has made no alternative
arrangements as
proposed in Clause
13. It has simply
indicated that it
will not accept any
containers without a
VGM.
“Transnet should
take the opportunity
to facilitate trade and
make the necessary
contingency plans,”
he said.
But, regardless
of the guidelines’
suggestion that
terminals could weigh boxes arriving
without VGMs and provide their own
VGMs at the shippers’ cost, it’s just
not feasible in Durban, according to
Darren Fraser of the port’s corporate
strategy division. “We don’t have the
capacity or the equipment to provide
an accurate VGM,” he told FTW.
Added to that, the terminals
at the Port of Durban are very
congested environments and this
also prevents such a scheme from
being feasible.
And Durban is not alone in this
stance, according to Fraser. Some 60
major terminals around the world
have also rejected this internal
weighing procedure, he said.
INSERT & CAPTION
Transnet should take
the opportunity to
facilitate trade and
make the necessary
contingency plans.
– Peter Lamb