The National Chicken Council, along with 37 other agriculture, forest products, and manufacturing groups that generate cargo transiting U.S. ports, will send a letter on Monday to Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, Commander of the Coast Guard, regarding interpretation of the container weight amendment to the International Convention of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
The groups said that they support the U.S. Coast Guard’s interpretation of the container weight amendment and said “We greatly appreciate Rear Admiral Thomas’ interest in balancing the need to assure safety of marine terminals and on ships, while allowing cargo to move into and through U.S. marine terminals without disruption and delay, and to allow U.S. exports to be globally competitive.”
“Specially, we support the Rear Admiral’s view that, if the shipper provides the cargo mass weight, to which the carrier adds the weight of the container, then the intent of SOLAS is achieved. In fact, several ocean carrier executives have advised that such a process would be practical,” the letter said
However, the groups expressed concern that some ocean carriers, citing the SOLAS amendment, are demanding that the shipper certify both the cargo and the carrier’s container. “This is contrary to the practical realities of our U.S. export maritime commerce and fundamentally flawed conceptually. (It would be similar to demanding that a soybean shipper certify to the railroad the weight of the rail car itself),” the groups pointed out.
The letter said that this “amendment, unless applied rationally in the manner suggested by the Rear Admiral, would create U.S. supply chain disruptions and delay and competitive disadvantage for U.S. exporters. From a practical standpoint, it is unworkable, given the pace of cargo and electronic export data flow.”
“Exporters from the United States fully understand our responsibility to accurately disclose the weights of cargo tendered to the ocean carriers. In fact, advance submission of accurate gross cargo weight is a well-established practice, mandated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” the groups said.
“There has not been shown any need, in the interests of safety and accurate cargo weight reporting, to impose the unreasonable new requirement that the shipper tell the ocean carrier how much the carrier’s own equipment weights. The Coast Guard’s position is reasonable and consistent with safety and competitive of U.S. international commerce,” the letter concluded.
