G/TBT/GEN/203  
 
21 September 2016  
(16-5009) Page: 1/1 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
OIML ACTIVITIES RE LATED TO THE WORK OF T HE TBT COMMITTEE  
STATEMENT BY THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANI ZATION FOR LEGAL MET ROLOGY  
This document contains the statement delivered  by the OIML at the TBT Committee meeting of  
15-16 June  2016 under Ag enda Item 5 (Update  by Observers).  
 
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The following recent activities of the OIML are of particular interest to the TBT Committee:  
1  MEMBERSHIP  
1.  The OIML is very pleased welcome Thailand as its latest new Member State, bringing the total 
number of OIML Member Sta tes to 61, but reducing the number of Corresponding Members to 62.  
Thailand has been a Corresponding Member for many years, and the transfer to Member State 
indicates both the growing importance of legal metrology in Thailand, as well as their willingness  
to participate more actively in the future work of the OIML.  
2  INTERNATIONAL MARITI ME ORGANISATION SAFE TY OF LIFE AT SEA (S OLAS) 
REGULATIONS  
2.  As reported at the last two TBT Committee meetings, the OIML has become involved in 
implementation issues resulting from the requirement to weigh all shipping containers before 
loading onto ships under an amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention Chapter 
VI Regulation 2, by the International Maritime Organisation.  
3.  The revised SOLAS regulations require sh ippers to provide a “verified gross mass” for all 
containers in time for this value to be taken into account in the loading plan of the ship on which it 
will be carried.  This “ verified gross mass ” must be obtained using “ certified and calibrated 
weighing equipment ” which meets the “ applicable accuracy standards and requirements of the 
State in which the equipment is being used according to national legislation ”.  Since there is no 
requirement in the SOLAS regulations for this national legislation to be bas ed on applicable 
international standards, there is a huge potential for the creation of significant technical barriers to 
trade if different requirements are applied in different countries, especially considering that there 
are around 35 -37 million contain ers in use worldwide.  The OIML is therefore actively promoting 
the use of its International Recommendations as the basis for requirements to meet the SOLAS 
regulations, since they are already used world -wide as the basis for trade legislation covering 
weighing equipment.  
4.  Having attended an industry -led seminar on this subject on 1 June, it is clear that although 
there has been a significant improvement in awareness and readiness since the end of 2015, many 
port operators, shippers, and governments are stil l poorly prepared for the implementation 
deadline of 1 July 2016.  The IMO has made it clear that the only exemptions from the new 
regulations will cover containers already at sea which will be trans -shipped after the deadline of 1 
July. 
5.  The OIML therefore  continues to encourage its own, as well as WTO members to look into how 
the SOLAS regulations are being implemented in their countries, since lack of preparation or 
inconsistent application could lead to a chaotic situation following 1 July 2016, with hug e numbers 
of containers potentially being refused entry to ports or loading onto ships.  
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