Hello everyone!
Today we are going to talk about a new international regulation, in force since this July. A fundamental regulatory change in the safety protocols for declaring the weight of goods in containers transported by sea.
The main objective of this new regulation is to require greater control of the weighing of goods. In this way, very serious problems due to overloading of the goods are to be avoided. Imagine a ship with a large overload, it would be a disgrace!
This decision also seeks to reinforce the occupational safety of workers in the ports, since a lower weight than declared could cause accidents among crane operators, for example.
That is why the International Maritime Organization has decided to include new controls, within the International SOLAS Convention, so that the exact weight of the cargo is known before loading.
This protocol will start from the suppliers of the goods, who will have to present a certified document of the exact weighing of their respective container. If this document is not provided, the container will not be loaded on the ship. It’s as simple as that. Likewise, the extra costs of these operations must be agreed between the supplier and the shipping company.
Weight methodology
The new regulation establishes two possible methodologies to verify the weight of the goods:
– Weigh the container with all goods inside using certified scales.
– Weigh separately all parts of the goods, including cargo securing material, pallets, etc. and adding the tare weight of the container. All this, using a method certified by the State where the packaging was made.
You can see in this infographic, a summary of the reason for this new regulation of goods.
Do you have any questions about the new regulations for weighing goods in containers? Do you want to know which are the methods certified by China? Contact us, we are experts in importing goods from China.
