The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to provide that, in order to load a packed container onto a ship for export, a verification of the container gross mass will be required. In practice, a packed container will need to be weighed before loading. It will be the shipper’s responsibility to obtain the verified gross mass of a packed container and to communicate it to the carrier. This requirement will entry into force on 1st July 2016 and will apply globally.