Container Weight Rules Worry Exporters
WASHINGTON - Jan 25/16 - SNS -- Effective July 1, new international regulations will require shippers to report a verified gross container weight to shipping lines, and terminal operators, notes the USDA. The regulations are the result of the 2014 Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) amendments.
Although the concept of this new regulation is simple, U.S. exporters have expressed deep concerns about the practicality and the lack of clarity of implementing it. Currently, shippers, carriers, and terminal operators are working together and are in communication with the regulators to iron out the details before the deadline. Exporters need clear procedures and well-defined practices to avoid confusion and reduce any consequent trade disruptions due to the new regulations.
The new regulations come from an amendment to the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, or SOLAS. The IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is the global standard-setting authority for the safety, security, and environmental performance of international shipping. IMO's main role is to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective, universally adopted, and universally implemented..
According to the IMO, the key objective of the SOLAS Convention is to identify and specify the minimum standards for the construction, equipment, and operation of merchant ships to ensure their safety (IMO 2016). The new regulation is an amendment to Chapter VI of SOLAS, which covers the safety requirements for all types of cargo. The amendment requires containers to have a verified container weight as a condition for loading aboard a vessel. This information will allow vessel planners to more accurately determine the weight aboard the ship and reduce the risk of overloading the vessel.
The U.S. Coast Guard has been tasked to implement and enforce the new regulations,but is working with the industry to determine best practices for moving forward. No procedures or penalty details have been released.
Two Major Issues for Shippers
There are two major issues regarding container weighing that complicate the application of the new regulations.
First, there is no single, established way to estimate the weight of a container, and some methods are particularly difficult for agricultural exporters. Industry has identified two basic methods to determine the containter's weight: (1) weigh the packed container, or (2) add the weight of the cargo (including all packaging and stabilizing equipment) to the tare weight of the container. Because many agricultural exporters do not have the capability to remove containers from truck chassis to weigh them separately, the weighing process often takes place while the container is on the truck chassis. Additional time and equipment would be required to weigh the packed container separate from the truck chassis.
Second, the weight of an empty container varies even among containers that are the same size, particularly for refrigerated containers that use varying generator sets to keep contents at a consistent environment. While the tare weight of the container is often marked on the side of the equipment, some exporters have found the marked weight is often not accurate. Over time, container weights change due to regular wear-and-tear as well as maintenance and repairs. As a result, some exporters have expressed that they should only be responsible for providing the weight of their cargo, not the weight of the container.
Because no standard process has been formally laid out by the authority, implemention and enforcement of the regulations are still uncertain to the exporters and the industry. Failing to establish streamlined and uniform practices may potentially interrupt the exporter's supply chain, which will create disruptions in global trade and noticeable economic losses for the agricultural exporters.
The United Kingdom has published a model that allows the reported weight of the packed container to be within 5 percent of the weight found by the regulatory authority. U.S. industry representatives are exploring this model to determine if 5 percent is enough of a variance for the agricultural export community. Allowing this type of flexibility would be beneficial to U.S. agricultural exporters to account for moisture as well as variations in equipment size, age, and materials used in manufacturing.
The shipping lines are still exploring how soon before the vessel is loaded they will require this additional information and how they will receive it (i.e., which electronic documentation platforms will be adjusted to receive the additional data). The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) has created a unique forum for its membership to discuss the practicalities of implementing the new regulations with member carriers of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement. The software providers that service electronic documentation platforms have also joined the forum. AgTC has also opened dialogue with the U.S. Coast Guard to make agricultural exporters' needs known to those enforcing the regulation.
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