On March 21, 2016, working to show compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s Verified Gross Mass (VGM) rule, OCEMA’s 18 ocean carrier members have unanimously adopted a Recommended Best Practice for the Acceptance and Transmission of Verified Gross Mass. This “roadmap” if you will is the first one adopted by any industry group. This comes after several months of planning by an OCEMA VGM working group, during which time OCEMA also conferred with industry stakeholders on various technical aspects of the Best Practice. The IMO’s container weight verification rule brought to light by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), effective July 1, 2016 and the U.S. is a party to the SOLAS treaty. The VGM rule is supposed to make way for a reliable, verified container weight to decrease the risk of injury and death during port and ocean transport operations. Frank Grossi, Chairman of OCEMA and Executive VP of COSCO Container Lines America, Inc. pronounced “OCEMA members are committed to helping U.S. export stakeholders prepare for the implementation of the IMO SOLAS requirements for container weight verification, while meeting their own global commitments as carriers.” Links to additional documents below:
OCEMA Press Release
OCEMA VGM Best Practice
OCEMA VGM Process Map
