THE British International Freight Association (BIFA) expects the new rule by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to verify the weight of containers before they are loaded onto ships
BIFA relieved by lengthy process to bring about box weigh-ins
THE British International Freight Association (BIFA) expects the new rule by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to verify the weight of containers before they are loaded onto ships, will not come into force until May 2017.
The comments follow the IMO sub-committee approval last week of draft guidelines giving shippers two methods to verify the weight of a container: the packed container must either be weighed, or all packages and cargo items must be weighed and then added to the weight of an empty.
"We understand that the draft guidelines will now be forwarded to the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) for approval in May 2014, and assuming that approval is forthcoming at that meeting, be formally adopted at a further meeting of the MSC in May 2015," said BIFA director general Peter Quantrill.
"BIFA notes that the proposal still has to navigate several stages through the IMO's legislative process and, if successful, will most likely not come into force before May 2017," he said.
"Clearly the implementation of the new rules is a lengthy process that should give the industry time to adapt and allow our members time to make sure that they continue to comply with their responsibilities to make accurate cargo declarations," Mr Quantrill said.