The Agriculture Transportation Coalition is concerned that a new international container weight verification rule could negatively affect U.S. exporters.
The National Pork Producers Council, part of the coalition, says members will meet later this week on February 18th, with Rebecca Dye of the Federal Maritime Commission to discuss the issue.
Coalition members also asked congressional committees to review the rule, which was published by the International Maritime Organization and took effect in July.
This rule requires shippers to provide ocean carriers with certification of a shipment’s Verified Gross Mass, the combined weight of a container and its contents.
The agriculture coalition has pointed out that U.S. exporters of agricultural products that could be moving hundreds of miles to port have no way of knowing whether the product is put into another container for ocean shipment and how much that container weighs.
Members of the coalition want a delay in U.S. implementation of the rule.
