Interpretation

In these Regulations“applicable container” means a container that is intended to be stowed on an applicable ship “applicable ship” means a ship that falls within the category of ships that the Ports Commissioner or a person authorised by him has determined is subject to the requirements of Chapter VI of SOLAS; “calibrated and certified equipment” means a scale, weighbridge, lifting equipment or any other device, capable of determining the actual gross mass of a packed container or of packages and cargo items, pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material as verified by the Belize Bureau of Standards and certified by the Authority as being administered in compliance with these Regulations on an annual basis; “cargo items” has the same general meaning as the word “cargo” in the International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “CSC Convention”), and means any goods, wares, merchandise, liquids, gases, solids and articles of every kind whatsoever carried in containers pursuant to a contract of carriage: however, ship’s equipment and ship’s supplies, including ship’s spare parts and stores, carried in containers are not to be regarded as cargo; Belize Port Authority 69 “container” means an article of transport equipment: (a) of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use; (b) specially designed to facilitate the transport of goods, by one or more modes of transport without intermediate reloading; (c) designed to be secured and or readily handled, having corner fittings for these purposes; and (d) of a size such that the area enclosed by the four outer bottom corners is either– (i) at least 14m2 (150sq. ft); or (ii) at least 7 m2 (75sq. ft.) if it is fitted with top corner fittings, and includes tank-containers, flat-racks, bulk containers etc, and containers carried on a chassis or trailer except when such containers are driven on or off a ro-ro ship engaged in short international voyages, but does not include any type of vehicle; “contract of carriage” has the same meaning as contained in the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act; Cap. 248 “CSC” means the International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972, as amended; “gross mass” means the combined mass of a container's tare mass and the masses of all packages and cargo items, including pallets, dunnage and other packing material and securing materials packed into the container; 70 Belize Port Authority “Method 1” means Method No. 1 of the methods for obtaining the verified gross mass of an applicable container prescribed by SOLAS by which a shipper may obtain the verified gross mass, that provides that upon the conclusion of the packing and sealing of the container, the shipper may weigh, or have arranged that a third party weighs, the packed container; “Method 2” means Method No. 2 of the methods for obtaining the verified gross mass of an applicable container prescribed by SOLAS by which a shipper may obtain the verified gross mass, that provides that the shipper or, by arrangement of the shipper, a third party, may weigh all packages and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material to be packed in the container, and add the tare mass of the container to the sum of the single masses using a certified method as described in Method 1, which requires that any third party that has performed some or all of the packing of the container should inform the shipper of the mass of the cargo items and packing and securing material that the party has packed into the container in order to facilitate the shipper's verification of the gross mass of the container; “package” means one or more cargo items that are tied together, packed, wrapped, boxed or parcelled for transportation; “packed container” means a container loaded (“stuffed” or “filled”) with liquids, gases, solids, packages and cargo items including pallets, dunnage or other packing material and securing materials; “packing material” means any material used or for use with packages and cargo items to prevent damage, including, but not limited to, crates, packing blocks, drums, cases, boxes, barrels, and skids, but not including any material within individual sealed packages to protect the cargo item inside the package; “port” means a facility that has been specified in or designated as a port under the Act; Belize Port Authority 71 “securing material” means all dunnage, lashing and other equipment used to block, brace, and secure packed cargo items in a container; “shipper” means the person named on the bill of lading or sea waybill or equivalent multimodal transport document (such as through a bill of lading) as shipper and for whom (or in whose name or on whose behalf) a contract of carriage has been concluded with a shipping company; “shipping document” means a document used by the shipper to communicate the verified gross mass of the packed container, which document may be part of the shipping instructions to the shipping company or a separate communication (such as a declaration including a weight certificate produced by a weigh station); “SOLAS” means the Convention on Safety of Life at Sea, as amended from time to time; “tare mass” means the mass of an empty container that does not contain any packages, cargo items, pallets, dunnage, or any other packing material or securing material; “terminal representative” means an individual or entity acting on behalf of a person engaged in the business of providing wharfage, dock, stowage, warehouse, or other cargo handling services in connection with a ship; “verified gross mass” means the total gross mass of a packed container as obtained by the shipper described in regulation 6.