Cargo Integrity Group updates container safety guide 

The Cargo Integrity Group has updated its Quick Guide to the CTU Code and is urging all involved in intermodal container transport to follow its advice.

The multi-faceted group of originally five, now seven, industry organizations, produced a Quick Guide to the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) two years ago.

The Quick Guide is designed to assist those responsible for packing containers and accurately declaring details of their contents to abide by the often-complex regulations contained in the voluminous CTU Code itself.  There is also a checklist of actions required by packers and shippers of containers.

The group believes that awareness of the CTU Code is pivotal to achieving safe and secure transport and has followed up the Quick Guide’s publication with provision of its full text in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Italian.

An update has now been made available, taking account of feedback, and is downloadable for free here.

 “Providing individuals responsible for packing containers, and in some cases for preparing documentation and declarations, with easier access to all-important safety guidelines in their own language, is key in order to make available practical cutting edge knowledge of packing,” said FIATA director general Stéphane Graber commented.

“Such information goes beyond maritime operations, reflecting  the complexities of intermodal transport in modern day supply chains, and is key to keeping cargo logistics running efficiently.”

Failure to follow the CTU Code advice puts the people who keep the supply chain moving at risk, leading to incidents and accidents. The group believes that such tragedies in the supply chain can be avoided – most vividly demonstrated by the too frequent occurrence of container ship fires – higher standards of cargo integrity.

“We are providing clearer guidance through our revised Quick Guide and Checklist to help those responsible for packing cargo transport units, and in particular intermodal containers, to understand the standards expected in international trade,” stated James Hookham, director of Global Shippers Forum.

“The revised editions recognise the endorsement of all the partner organisations now active in the Cargo Integrity Group and their joint commitment to dissemination of this advice to their respective memberships and wider networks,” he concluded.