GSF launches safety campaign

   The Global Shippers’ Forum said it has begun a campaign to enhance safety in the maritime transport supply chain.
   “While the vast majority of shippers comply with the rules, it is a regrettable fact that instances of mis-declaration and poor standards of loading and securing take place. Much of this is down to a lack of understanding of the rules and packing and securing know-how,” GSF said.
   The forum has launched a series of “hands on” and easy-to-understand best practice guides for managers and packers and warehouse staff.
   GSF launched the campaign at its annual meeting in London last week.
   Bob Ballantyne, chairman of the GSF, said the group supports the work of the International Maritime Organization and its Maritime Safety Committee to find “practical and workable solutions to issues such as verification of accurate weight declarations. We also congratulate the excellent work undertaken by the International Labour Organization and UN Economic Commission for Europe and IMO in finalizing a new code of practice for the safe stowage and securing of transport units. We urge all three UN organizations to ratify the new code during 2013 so that this can enter into force in 2014.”
   In an opening address to GSF’s second annual meeting, Senator Idris Umar, Nigeria’s minister of transport, praised the formation of the group, saying development of GSF was crucial in supporting the development of trade in Nigeria and the wider sub-region.
   He said Nigeria supported GSF’s stance on maritime emissions, in particular energy efficiency approaches to reducing maritime greenhouse gas emissions. He criticized the bunker levy proposals currently under consideration in IMO, stressing they would be “passed on to their shipper customers with no significant cut in emissions.”
   The transport minister said Nigeria fully backed GSF’s global maritime regulatory reform campaign, saying lack of competition in many African trades and the plethora of surcharges and other practices blunt the competitiveness of African trade and prospects for growth. – Chris Dupin