Cotonou Port: Exclusive Access for SIPI-BENIN and GP-TRANS
The Investment and Promotion of Industry Company (SIPI-BENIN), a structure responsible for the operation of the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) and GP-TRANS are the only operators authorized for the weighing of containers intended for export to Autonomous Port of Cotonou (PAC). This decision, taken in accordance with the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) requirements defined by the SOLAS Convention, aims to optimize the control and compliance of weighing operations.
This Thursday, November 7, 2024, all export containers must present a weighing ticket issued exclusively by SIPI BENIN and GP-TRANS, before accessing the port. This is in line with the outsourcing decision taken in May 2024 by the CAP, making these two structures the only operators authorized to issue VGM weighing tickets for containers leaving the Port of Cotonou. The price of these weighing operations, according to an announcement by La Marina, is capped at 12,000 CFA francs, and includes empty and loaded weighing of each container (TC20, TC40, etc.).
The aim of this external work, according to a port source reported by the information website, is to “simplify port traffic and strengthen the security of operations, essential objectives within the framework of the SOLAS Convention and the amendment to chapter V/2, which requires verification strictly from the mass of the containers intended to be exported.”
The decision on the outsourcing of the structures operating on the port platform was notified through official notes on May 29 and 31, 2024, by the Port of Cotonou. Through this note, the general managers of the port invited other weighing structures operating on the port platform to take steps to obtain approval from the PAC if they wish to carry out the export weighing activity legally. These include ETG BENIN, MAERSK LOGISTICS & SERVICES, IBCG, STILCO and FK-CORPORATION.
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November 8, 2024 by F. Aubin Ahéhéhinnou, Ignace B. Fanou