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  • Misdeclaration of container weight is on a “downward trend” since the issuance of revised rules implementing the SOLAS mandatory requirement for submission of the verified gross mass in 2021
  • International Container Terminal Services, Inc said compliance to VGM went up to 86% since the issuance of Administrative Order 02-2021 (vs compliance of 10% when the policy was first issued in 2016 until 2019)
  • Asian Terminals Inc said non-compliant shippers went down to 11% from 25%

Misdeclaration of container weight is on a “downward trend” since the issuance of revised rules implementing the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) mandatory requirement for submission of the verified gross mass (VGM) in 2021, according to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

Of the 212,018 export containers handled by international ports under PPA jurisdiction in 2021, only 9.01% or 19,104 export containers had misdeclared weight, according to the presentation of PPA Terminal Services Division acting manager Gale Tabaquero at the 192nd Maritime Forum by The Maritime League on August 27.

Misdeclaration occurs when a container which when weighed at the terminal exceeds the allowable threshold weight discrepancy of above or below 1,500 kilograms (kg).

In 2022, misdeclaration of container weight dropped to 8.08% or 31,250 containers out of the 386,655 total. In 2023, this went down further to 6.30% or 18,078 out of the 286,994 containers.

Tabaquero said port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) reported that when the policy was first issued in 2016, compliance rate was below 10%, which remained until 2019.

After the issuance of PPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 02-2021—which provided revised rules on mandatory weighing of export cargo—compliance to VGM went up to 86% at ICTSI.

For port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), non-compliant shippers went down to 11% from 25%.

ICTSI operates Manila International Container Terminal while ATI operates Manila South Harbor and Batangas Container Terminal.

“So this goes to show that there has been improvement and that the shippers and exporters are getting into the practice and behavior of making sure that the weight they indicate in the pre-advise is accurate, hence the issuance of the AO [02-2021] has somehow helped improve the situation,” Tabaquero said.

Amendments to the SOLAS VGM Chapter VI Part A require a shipper to indicate to the carrier or port operator the VGM of a packed container before it is loaded onto the vessel. The amendment was implemented globally from July 1, 2016 and in the Philippines, PPA in the same year issued AO 04-2016 to implement the policy. AO 04-2016 was, however, not implemented strictly and was revisited resulting in the issuance of AO 02-2021 that took effect in June 2021.

READ: PPA enforces new rules on mandatory weighing of export cargo

Association of International Shipping Lines, Inc. general manager Atty. Maximino Cruz earlier said that unlike AO 04-2016, AO 02-2021 is more definitive in stating that the responsibility for obtaining and documenting the VGM of a packed container lies with the shipper.

“Clearer provisions on technical details are now being provided under AO No.02-2021. Likewise, monitoring and reportorial requirements have become part of the new AO,” Cruz explained

AO 02-2021 said SOLAS regulations require the shipper to verify the gross mass of packed containers using Method No. 1 (weighing) or Method No. 2 (calculating), and to communicate the VGM in a shipping document.

Method 1 is weighing the packed container using calibrated and certified weighing equipment. Method 2 is calculating the sum of the single masses, which is the mass of cargo items plus all packages (pallets, dunnage, securing material packed in the container) plus container tare weight as certified and approved by the national authorized body, which in this case is PPA.

Under Method 1, the terminal representatives will weigh each packed and sealed container individually regardless of size, whether it’s a full container load or less than container load, and regardless of the number of shippers with shipments loaded inside the container.

Under Method 2, the shipper, or its assigned third party, must weigh all packages and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage, and other packing and securing material to be packed in the container, and add the tare mass of the container to the sum of the single masses using a certified and approved method as required by the state where the container is packed.

Only the method used for weighing the container’s contents under Method 2 is subject to certification and approval as determined by the competent authority of the Philippines in which the packing and sealing of the container was completed. The scale used for weighing has to be calibrated/certified in accordance with Philippine rules and regulations.

The shipper of a container should ensure the VGM is stated in the shipping document and contains the required details. The information must be submitted to the master of the vessel or his/her representative, and to the terminal representative sufficiently in advance, as required by the master of the vessel or his/her representative, to be used in the preparation of the ship stowage plan.

The shipper or its representative should make available the VGM information of each container to the carrier via electronic data interchange or other electronic means like the Terminal Appointment Booking System and container gate-in/gate-out report message (CODECO).

If the shipping document does not provide the VGM and the master or his/her representative and the terminal representative have not obtained the VGM of the packed container, the container will not be loaded on to the ship.

If more than one container is mounted on a chassis, each container will be weighed separately.

The terminal representatives will verify the VGM declaration by weighing at terminal (in gate or by other appropriate and certified weighing instrument).

This, however, does not supersede the responsibility of the shipper to declare the VGM in the pre-advice, but as an official source of information for the VGM of packed containers in case no VGM was provided by the shipper.

Any discrepancy between a packed container’s gross mass declared prior to the verification of its gross mass and its VGM should be resolved by using the VGM.

Any discrepancy between the VGM of a packed container obtained prior to the container’s delivery to the port terminal facility and the VGM of that container obtained by the port facility’s weighing of the container should be resolved by using the latter VGM obtained by the port terminal facility.

Any weight discrepancy above or below 1,500 kg will be deemed misdeclared and shut-out charges prescribed under PPA regulations by way of penalty will be imposed on the shipper in addition to the weighing fee.

If the actual weight of the container as declared in the shipping document and provided to the shipping line is within the 1,500 kg threshold, no weighing fee will be imposed.

For ports without existing PPA-approved shut-out charge, the terminal representatives should apply with PPA for the applicable shut-out fees, which will be the basis for the imposition of penalty.

Any action regarding a misdeclared container will be the result of a business decision between the shipper and the shipping line, provided that the shipping line accepts the correct measured weight as the shipper’s new declaration prior to loading. Provided further that the actual gross mass does not exceed the allowable maximum gross mass of the container indicated in the International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC) Plate.

AO 02-2021 said PPA reserves the right to report to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) a record of any weight underdeclaration considered as violation of pertinent LTO rules and regulations.

The terminal representatives should not load onto the vessel an overloaded container. A container is considered overloaded if the gross mass exceeds the maximum allowable weight embossed on the CSC plate of the container including the tare weight of the container. If the CSC plate is no longer readable, the terminal representatives should refer to the ISO standards for maximum weights of containers according to size.

All transshipped containers, particularly in view of Republic Act No. 10668 or the Foreign Ships Co-loading Act, will not require any further weighing after the first port of origin or loading, unless the container has been stripped and re-stuffed. If a transshipped container exits a port and is transported to another port, it will be weighed again.

Aside from PPA, which has jurisdiction over majority of the country’s ports, the Cebu Pot Authority, which oversees all ports in the province of Cebu, also released its own guidelines under AO 01-2016, later revoked by AO 02-2016. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, which has jurisdiction over Subic port, and Phividec Industrial Authority, overseer of the Mindanao Container Terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, also issued their own guidelines. – Roumina Pablo

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