Terminal Gate Weights 'Obvious Solution' to VGM Requirements, FMC Chair Says

Container weights "as determined by terminal operators, can and should be classified as the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) of the container," Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Mario Cordero said in a June 16 news release (here). That's an "obvious solution" and one that would add some much need certainty to the new requirements, which go into effect July 1, Cordero said. There's ongoing controversy about U.S. implementation of the International Maritime Organization rules under the Safety of the Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) that will require container weight verification (see 1603030014).

The Coast Guard previously laid out a SOLAS compliance method (see 1604290027) that "requires no additional action at all," he said. "Why anyone would add procedures, requirements and costs to doing business is not only puzzling, it raises the specter of anticompetitive behavior and necessitating Commission action," he said. "Using the weight taken at the terminal gate for the purposes of satisfying the need for a verified weight of a container is a simple and efficient solution for assuring the continued smooth flow of export cargoes." A Senate committee recently asked the FMC to take a more active role within the controversy (see 1605190006). "While I certainly applaud efforts to make the maritime transportation of cargo safer, I am increasingly struggling to fathom why the ocean carrier community has not fully embraced the equivalency declaration as a way to demonstrate flexibility and sensitivity to our U.S.-export shippers," he said.

Any compliance regime "established under the auspices of a discussion agreement on file at the Federal Maritime Commission that adds burdens to declaring container weights will invite increased scrutiny by the Commission," Cordero noted, according to the release. Cordero recently voiced support for an agreement filed with the FMC for terminal operators to weigh containers in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements (see 1606060015).

Cordero also called for efficient transmittals of container weights. "Weights determined at terminal gates for the purposes of SOLAS VGM compliance should be transmitted directly from the terminal operator to the shipping line, not provided to the shipper to then present to the carrier," he said. "The quickest route between two points is a straight line and that applies to data flow as much as it does to navigation. It only makes sense to have a direct reporting of container weights from the terminal operator to the ocean carrier." Several players involved in the controversy, the World Shipping Council, the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association and the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), didn't comment. Cordero was scheduled to speak during an AgTC conference on June 17.