Final Report Of The Sea Containers Task Force

National economies depend on the efficient and uninterrupted movement of trade, which is facilitated by the efficient movement of sea containers through a complex and time-sensitive logistical system. With over 220 million containers shipped each year, the scale of sea container operations is monumental. As a consequence, any changes to the system are likely to have substantive knock-on effects. As the Sea Containers Task Force (SCTF) worked through its mandate and explored various challenges, opportunities and considerations, its members felt that it would be important to present Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) with these considerations to ensure that any decisions be taken in light of detailed information. Key considerations include: the fact that the type of commodity and the handling and storage of commodities prior to and during packing could influence and result in the contamination of containers; that there was no way to track all stakeholders involved and therefore full accountability or custodianship was missing; that contracting parties may lack the capacity to carry out inspections, given the large volume of container movements involved; and that the costs associated with container inspections would be very high. SCTF considered possible ways forward to address the issue of pest contamination of sea containers and the advantages and disadvantages of each (section 6.2). Possible courses of action include: voluntary measures developed and implemented by industry sectors; developing an IPPC Recommendation; developing an IPPC recommendation and an International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM), with the revision of the Recommendation being a first and transitional step towards adoption of ISPM; and developing a new ISPM without updating the existing recommendation. SCTF did not recommend any one course of action over the others.