- 06 November 2015
Did You Know? Customs and Regulations Update | USA
This “Did You Know? is brought to you by Mainfreight, Inc. and is designed to keep you informed of upcoming changes to Customs and related regulations that may well impact you and your supply chain. It is not meant to be legally binding, and is solely informational in scope.
Did You Know? The TPP Text is Available
After years of negotiation, the Trans-Pacific Partnership – a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement, is now available for review. It specifically involves the following 12 countries:
- Australia
- Brunei
- Canada
- United States of America
- Chile
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Peru
- Singapore
- Vietnam
The full text of the agreement can be found here. There are significant benefits for both US importers and exporters found in the duty elimination provisions. Do take a look at how this may benefit YOU and YOUR supply chain!
Did You Know? If you ship via ocean, get familiar with the upcoming SOLAS Weight Validation Requirements
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) as amended the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention to soon require, as a condition of loading a packed container onto a ship for export that the container’s weight has been verified. The shipper will be responsible for this verification. After July 1 2016, it will be a violation to load a container on board a vessel until and unless the weight has been verified and provided to the vessel operator and marine terminal operator. This is a global requirement.
There will be two permissible methods for weighing:
- Requires weighing the container after it has been packed
- Requires weighing all the cargo and contents of the container and adding those weights to the container’s tare weight
As this will entail significant changes to the ocean shipping process, do expect additional costs to be incurred to ensure that the weights provided to the vessel operator and terminal are verified. Mainfreight Inc will keep you informed of the steps we plan to take to implement this process compliantly and ensure that exporters are aware of their upcoming legal obligations to comply.
For additional information on the SOLAS weight verification requirements can be found here.
Please contact your local Mainfreight International Inc Customs Brokerage office with any questions. Thank you.