ICHCA: No grace period for VGM…period

The International Cargo Handling Coordination Association reminded shippers and forwarders that the container weighing rule will go into effect Friday, with no three-month grace period as some have mistakenly understood.    The International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA) this week sought to clarify to shippers and freight forwarders that new container weight regulations from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will go into effect July 1 and there won’t be a grace period for compliance.
   London-based ICHCA issued a paper to emphasize that shippers will be responsible for submitting verified gross mass (VGM) data to carriers prior to their cargo arriving at ports. The rule allows individual terminals and nations to decide the best way for shippers to comply.
   ICHCA said there has been “recent confusion around the IMO’s perceived ‘grace period’,” stemming from a recent IMO document circulated in late May that attempted to clarify how the rule should be enforced. Some in the industry, ICHCA asserts, have interpreted that circular to mean that enforcement would begin three months after the rule goes into effect.
   “Some respondents are of the mistaken belief that this means the SOLAS amendment itself has been deferred for three months until Oct. 1, 2016,” the ICHCA paper said. “This is not true. All the circular calls for is a ‘practical and pragmatic’ approach to be taken with reference to transshipment and actual procedures for ‘documenting, communicating, and sharing VGM information.”
   “It is still a requirement to obtain the VGM for the packed container.”
   Groups concerned about enforcement of the container weight verification rule have suggested that enforcement be gradually applied, even if the rule technically goes into effect July 1. However, the IMO and those who fought to get the VGM rule ratified by IMO member nations have steadfastly said compliance and enforcement will begin immediately after the rule goes into effect.