TT Club recognizes the vital importance of focusing on the threat of invasive pests to natural resources around the world, and of the urgency to create effective and proportionate risk reduction measures that address the situation. The freight insurer is issuing a call to action, encouraging those involved in the intermodal supply chain in whatever capacity to help guide international regulators and create pragmatic work practices to minimize the dangers while international trade can continue to flow .
“Industry players of all types have a great opportunity to be part of responsible efforts to mitigate the serious concerns about potential contamination from contaminated seaborne intermodal cargo vectors,” says TT’s Peregrine Storrs-Fox. “The ‘International Workshop on Reducing the Introduction of Pests through the Seaway’, to be held in London over two days in September, could be a significant part of that event. We would encourage as many people involved in packing, transporting, handling and supplying containers for export to attend. Your registration is urgently required by July 31.”
The workshop will take place from 19 to 20 September 2022 at Queen Elizabeth II Centre, London, United Kingdom. Participation is free. Register HERE
The efficient movement of ocean containers through a complex and time-sensitive global supply chain involves more than 240 million container movements each year. It is clear that any regulatory requirements that may further add to these complexities may have negative consequences beyond any benefits for pest control. Therefore, the IPPC and partners have worked together over the past few years to explore practical measures to limit dangerous pest transmissions through the container trade.
The Sea Container Task Force (SCTF) was established to collect existing data from countries and consider the issue. His report was completed at the beginning of this year and this workshop is the next step in discussing the recommendations it made.
“Details of the workshop’s aims and expected outcomes are set out on the IPPC website as indicated above, but it is hoped above all that the proposed measures are given full airing and comprehensive debate,” says Storrs-Fox. “It is essential that all those involved, such as container lines, container manufacturers, forwarders, packers, shippers (both exporters and importers), port authorities and terminal operators, are consulted.”
Any targeted measures enacted through international regulations must be effective in dealing with the issue of pest contamination of both containers and their cargoes, but it must do so in a way that achieves risk reduction with minimal impact on container logistics.
*The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is an international convention, signed by more than 180 countries and governed by the Commission for Phytosanitary Measures, part of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Source: TT Club