If you are involved in exporting or importing from or through any port worldwide, please be aware of the new Verified Gross Mass (VGM) rule that was effective July 1, 2016. The new rule was a mandate from the International Maritime Organization. Using the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention and citing maritime casualties where mis-declared weights played a part in shipping accidents, the new rule says that all containers must have paperwork verifying the total weight. Many were worried about major disruptions in movement of containers through the ports, but Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor of JOC.com says that thosefears seem to be akin to the flurry of worry prior to Y2K. It would appear that he was right. To continue reading click here.