Lagos – The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on Thursday urged business communities to do accurate weighing and measurement of all transactions preparatory to new rule on Container Weight Verification taking off July 1.
An official of the Weights and Measures Department of the ministry, Mr Isaac Sunday, made the plea in a paper made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the paper is entitled “The Role of Weights and Measures on the Impact of Container Weighing and its Implications for Trade.”
NAN also reports that International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) new rule on Container Weight Verification would take effect on July 1.
According to Sunday, Weights and Measures Department is the regulatory organ of government domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment.
He said that the department was charged with the responsibility of assuring equity in transactions in quantity assurance dimensions, knowing that only accurate quantity could result in acceptable standard quality.
“Accurate weights and measures are part of the fundamental requirements of moral codes of all peoples and nations of the world, “ NAN quotes Sunday as saying.
He said, “A false balance (weight or measure) is an abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight.’’
The Secretary-General, Global Shippers Forum of International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Mr Chris Welsh, said that the IMO’s new rule on Shippers’ Verification of Weight of goods would take effect on July 1.
Welsh confirmed this in a paper titled: “Strategies for Implementation of the new IMO Rules on Container Weighing’’, presented at a two-day Sub-regional Workshop on Transport Costs and Connectivity of West and Central African countries held on Friday in Abuja.
He said that the new rules agreed by the IMO placed new responsibilities on the shippers to verify the actual gross mass of the container.
According to him, this include: the goods, packing, stowing materials, pallets and tare weight of the container.
Welsh said that the new rules would also be applied to export containers.
“The responsibility, therefore, would rest with the shipper to verify the gross mass weight of the container and goods,’’ NAN quotes Welsh as saying.
He said that the freight forwarder would be acting either as an agent or a principal, who verified the gross mass of the loaded container for the shipowner.
NAN reports that the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) at its 93rd session in May 2014 approved changes to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention regarding a mandatory container weight verification requirement from shippers.
Dangerous goods, Solid cargoes and Containers (DSC) Sub-Committee approved changes to the SOLAS Convention that would require verification of container weights before loaded containers could be placed aboard ships.
The Global Shippers Forum include: shippers (importers, exporters), freight forwarders and other operators that sought clarification.
The shipper has the responsibility of verification of gross mass with the ship owner and terminal operators. (NAN)