BIR secures support of International Maritime Bureau to prevent fraud and theft from container shipments

In an effort to reduce losses from container shipments for BIR member companies, BIR has subscribed to the services of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in London for a first trial period until June 2013. The IMB is one of three Bureaux that form Commercial Crime Services, the anti-crime unit of the International Chamber of Commerce, the world business organisation.

The issue of fraud and theft from containers was the key topic of a workshop organised at BIR’s last World Recycling Convention in Rome by the International Trade Council upon initiative of the Non Ferrous Metals Division under the presidency of Robert Stein. One of its keynote speakers was Mr Pottengal Mukundan, Director of the International Maritime Bureau, which has over 30 years experience in dealing with problems in shipping and trading.

Under the special arrangement with BIR, the IMB will collate incidents with regards to container shipments, in particular fraud and theft, experienced by BIR members.  The timely sharing of such information has been extremely effective in reducing risk in other membership sectors of the IMB such as trade, finance, banking and shipping. Once reports have been verified and recorded, details will be available to BIR members upon checking. Any information passed to the IMB will be treated in strict confidence and the anonymity of the BIR member maintained. IMB will circulate warnings / alerts in some cases. 

The Secretariat therefore requests all BIR members to forward reports of fraud and theft from container shipments to the IMB, marked for the attention of the Director, identifying themselves as BIR members, with a copy to the BIR office. Reports to the IMB should consist of a short summary and supporting documentation.

The IMB contact details are reproduced below:

International Maritime Bureau

Web:     www.icc-ccs.org

Mail:      imb@icc-ccs.org              

Tel:  + 44 (0)20 7423 6960 - Fax: + 44 (0)20 7160 5249

IMPORTANT: This service does not replace the BIR Arbitration Service that BIR members may want to use in case of commercial disputes.