Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Marking of Weight (Packages Transported by Vessels) Convention, 1929 (No. 27) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1972)

Previous comments

The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union’s International Labour Standards Committee (TU-ILS Committee), received on 31 August 2022, concerning the application in practice of the Convention.

In reply to its previous comments, the Committee notes the indication that Order No. 01 of 2016 on the Guidelines for implementing amendments to Regulation 2 of Chapter VI of the International Convention for the Safety of Human Life at Sea (SOLAS) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) concerning Verified Gross Mass revoked previous regulations on the marking of weights and applies to all containers imported into and exported from the country. In relation to inland navigation, only containers which were weighed and certified at international ports can be transported. In this regard, the TU-ILS Committee indicates that few container ships navigate in inland waterways and all containers loaded from the seaport follow the instructions of the Department of Shipping on marking standards. The Committee further notes the indication that transport of goods which are only in the national territory do not use containers. The Committee also notes the indication that the Ministry of Shipping has drafted a Merchant Shipping Act, which will empower the Department of Shipping to issue rules and regulations on weight marking. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the adoption of the Merchant Shipping Act and on any pursuant rule or regulation issued by the Department of Shipping in relation to the marking of loads transported by sea or by inland waterway, in particular when the package or object has a gross weight of more than one thousand kilograms (one metric ton), as provided for in Article 1(1) of the Convention. Additionally, the Committee requests the Government to specify, where relevant, the rules applicable to the weight marking for goods of more than one thousand kilograms (one metric ton) transported within the national territory that do not use containers.