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Tanzania: Container Rules Debated

TIN news:   The Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) is preparing regulations for containers passing through inland and marine ports to be weighed in accordance with a directive of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Come July 1 next year all containers passing through the country’s ports in lakes and Indian Ocean will be subjected to weighing, Sumatra Director General Gilliard Ngewe said yesterday. The regulator has prepared a draft document on those regulations for stakeholders to refine.
“We have to meet the deadline set by IMO for all member states to make regulations that demand all containers passing through the ports subjected to special weighing as an important issue for ensuring safety in the movement of ships,” said Mr Ngewe.
Speaking on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ meeting, Mr Ngewe said to ensure smooth implementation of such a programme the authority was in close cooperation with the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and the Weights and Measures Agency (WMA) for certification and licensing movement of cargo through the ports. Sumatra Public Affairs Manager David Mziray said while Sumatra was the overall regulator in enforcing those regulations, WMA would be offering certificates to shippers after weighing the containers.
“All the costs for certification will be met by the shippers. Since WMA has professionals dealing with weighing and measurement, they will work closely with TPA to ensure that the regulations are followed by the transporters and shippers,” said Mr Mziray.
Earlier, Sumatra Economic Regulations Director Ahmad Kilima told more than 50 stakeholders that such regulations were important to ensure shipping operations meet international maritime safety standards.
The draft regulations, known as Merchant Shipping (Verified Gross Mass of a Container carrying cargo) of 2015, comprise the provisions on guidelines and penalties for dealers and shipping agents found to contravene those procedures.

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