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1. ICHCA International 2010 Biennial Conference
26-29 April 2010 - Casablanca, Morocco
ICHCA International is the only independent world-wide, non-governmental,
non-profit organisation dealing specifically with the handling and movement
of cargo. ICHCA and the TT Club have worked closely for many years and both
are focused on driving safety and efficiency in the supply chain.
The International Safety Panel (ISP) and TT jointly publish good practice
guides, pocket safety cards and many other safety documents. This work is
only possible due to the extensive network of experts drawn from TT and ICHCA
membership who contribute to the compilation and editing of all publications.
The Club encourages attendance at ICHCA’s biennial conference being held this
year between 26 and 29
April in Casablanca, Morocco. The conference is the only
event organised by the international cargo transport industry and not by
commercial conference organisers. Consequently the focus is on efficient and
safe cargo handling, practical ideas and new technologies.
The conference, while aiming to highlight essential operational efficiency
improvements, will focus on continent-wide rail, road and port coordination
and collaboration. Invitations are being extended to sea / road / rail / air
cargo and passenger operations, so that all may benefit from the conference.
In conjunction with the main conference, meetings of the International Safety
Panel, the ISP Environmental Sub-Group and the International Security Panel
are timetabled for delegates at the biennial conference. Members of these
panels represent a substantial cross-section of senior experts and
professionals from all sectors of the cargo transport industry globally.
These panels have been established to provide consulting services and
informative publications dealing with technical matters and relevant news.
The TT Club recommends any company involved in the handling or movement of
cargo (forwarding, logistics, terminal and ship operators) to become a member
of ICHCA in order to share information relating to safe and efficient
operations.
For more information about the 2010 Biennial Conference refer to either
www.ttclub.com
and click the Events button or go to: www.ichca.com
2. US advice on
carriage of batteries for recycling
Dr Chris Foster of Dr J H Burgoyne & Partners LLP has drawn attention to
the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration (PHMSA) advice issued concerning transportation of
batteries for recycling and disposal following a number of serious incidents.
PHMSA noted an ongoing trend of serious safety problems and non-compliance
regarding the classification, packaging, marking, labelling, documentation,
and transportation of spent batteries in commerce. Investigations revealed a
number of safety issues, including:
1. Large numbers of used batteries, of many different types, are collected in
large containers that do not adequately prevent damage to the batteries or
prevent their release during transportation.
2. Outer packages are not marked and labelled as required to indicate that
they contain batteries; the shipments are not described as required on
accompanying shipping documents.
3. No action is being taken to prevent a short circuit, such as separating
the batteries by placing each one in a separate plastic 'baggie' or taping
the terminals of the battery.
The following weblink provides the complete advice.
http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/Files/2009_Battery_Safety_Compliance_Advisory.pdf
It should be noted that PHMSA issued a final rule requiring full compliance
from 1 January 2010. While this is obviously specific to US regulation, the
safety principles will be valuable in other jurisdictions.
3. Looking at shipper
responsibilities
Peregrine Storrs-Fox, the TT Club’s Risk Management Director, comments:
Experts continue to be worried by the twin problems faced by the unitised
cargo industry arising from the lack of correct information supplied by
shippers and consolidators. The concerns over both weight and contents was
discussed by the International Safety Panel of ICHCA International at a
recent meeting.
At present, there is considerable concern regarding the mis-declaration of
container weights and the Panel emphasised that the basic obligation to
provide the correct information rested with the shipper or consolidator.
Although the scale of the problem was not accurately known, the UK's Maritime
Accident Investigation Branch report on the MSC Napoli clearly indicated that
the stability and even safety of the ship could be affected. The incident
investigation established that 20% of the deck stow differed by more than
three tonnes from the declared weights. Shippers should be made aware of
their obligations and that this is best done by the shipping company when the
booking for the voyage is taken.
Terminals and shipping companies should together decide whether there is a
need to check the weight of containers and, if so, how that might be done. In
some instances, a weighbridge certificate could be provided with the goods as
they come to the terminal whilst in other circumstances a weight check on the
terminal via a terminal weighbridge or terminal equipment using sensing
devices might be possible.
The other aspect concerns dangerous goods and the Panel acknowledged that the
34th amendment of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code)
became mandatory from 1 January 2010, including the provision relating to the
training of shore-side workers. Forwarders and carriers should ensure that
shipper customers are made aware of the requirement to provide 'function
specific' training to their staff and seek confirmation that this has been
done. Both ICHCA International and the TT Club have recommended the Exis
Technologies e-learning package (http://www.imdge-learning.com) as an
effective support in achieving this requirement.
4. Delivery under a
‘Straight’ bill of lading under Canadian law
TT Talk Edition 127 of 4 March 2010 published an article by US
attorney-at-law Conte Cicala on ‘Delivery under a ‘Straight’ bill of lading
under United States law’. In contrast to US law, which generally permits
delivery without presentation of a ‘straight’ bill of lading, Canadian law
requires surrender of one original ‘straight’ bill of lading in return for
the goods.
This position has been reaffirmed in June 2009 by the Federal Court of Canada
(a superior court with nationwide jurisdiction) in Cami Automotive v Westwood
Shipping Lines. Mr Justice Blanchard, when required to classify a Transport
Operator’s carriage document either as a ‘Straight’ bill of lading or as a
sea waybill, referred to ‘The Rafaela S’ (UK House of Lords 2005) and
explained that a bill of lading might be either negotiable or non-negotiable,
but that in either case the bill was a document of title and therefore had to
be presented at the port of delivery to ensure the delivery of the goods. The
judge also cited the Federal Court judgement of 25 June 2008 in Timberwest
Forest v Pacific Link Ocean Services in support, where Mr Justice Harrington
said that ‘a fundamental aspect of a contract of carriage covered by a bill
of lading is that the carrier, or its agents, delivers the cargo to the
holder of the bill’.
As Canadian law requires surrender of a ‘straight’ bill of lading for
delivery, but allows delivery under a sea waybill without such presentation,
distinguishing the two is critical.
In Cami Automotive v Westwood Shipping Lines, Westwood assumed liability for
carriage of palletised assemblies and modules by sea from Nagoya (Japan) to
Seattle, then by truck to Vancouver and finally by rail to Toronto. The train
operated by Canadian National Railway derailed in northern Ontario. Cargo
interests sued Westwood for USD1.213 million. The classification of the document
as a sea waybill allowed Westwood to rely on the US COGSA 1936 with its limit
of USD500 per package, with the result that Westwood was able to rely on a
total liability limit of just USD50,000.
Mr Justice Blanchard scrutinized the front of the Westwood carriage document
(to determine whether the Hague-Visby Rules applied by force of law) and
concluded that the document was not a ‘straight’ bill of lading but a sea
waybill based on the following entries on the front of the document:
- The word ‘waybill’ appeared in the top-left corner (where another Westwood
document states ‘bill of lading’);
- A stamp said ‘non negotiable waybill’;
- Another stamp included the requirement of ‘delivery against proof of
identity’,
- A statement in the bottom-left corner stated that only ‘one’ document was
to be signed.
Also, the judge felt the following factors were of little assistance:
- The printed term ‘Bill of Lading No’, because the judge held this to be
subordinated to stamped terms;
- The stamped term ‘Straight Bill of Lading (Waybill)’, which the judge
viewed as ‘apparent confusion of terms’; and
- The identical wording of the conditions on the back of the document in
question and the Westwood bill of lading.
Incidentally, Mr Justice Blanchard also held that the reference in the
Westwood sea waybill conditions to a ‘bill of lading’ did not make these
conditions inapplicable.
Please use the following web link for the full text of the judgement by the
Federal Court (Mr Justice Blanchard) in Cami Automotive v Westwood Shipping
Lines of 24 June 2009:
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2009/2009fc664/2009fc664.html
2. Conclusion
We hope that you will have
found the above items interesting. If you would like to have further
information about any of them, or have any comments you would like to make,
please email the editor at tt.talk@ttclub.com
. We look forward to hearing from you.
Peter Stockli
Editor
for the TT Club
TT Talk is a free electronic newsletter published as occasion
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