New EU rules push insurance demands for logging

CLIVE EMDON
INSURANCE COMPANIES are increasingly demanding that the temperature and humidity of a wide range of products – from food to artefacts in transit – are logged as the European Community and Japan put new regulations in place, says Kelvin Price MD of CW Price. “This applies principally to products and services that are at risk due to the non-performance of service suppliers. The ability to record real time temperature and humidity enables them to identify when and where and under whose responsibility there was a failure. This prompts settlements at minimum cost. “We are able to provide tools, in the form of loggers, that assist clients in identifying, resolving or eliminating issues that cause claims,” Price says. Insurance agents are concerned when goods are ‘bumped off’ an aircraft in favour of more influential clients, says Price. In an eight week sea voyage, data loggers can identify if a refrigerated container maintains correct temperatures and help determine the liability in case a shipment is rejected. In terms of ISO standards and Euro Code regulations, all temperature sensitive food and pharmaceutical products must be monitored, he added. The range of perishable goods identified by both the European Community and Japan include pharmaceuticals, dairy products and ice cream, fish and meat, eggs and poultry, foodstuffs, live fish lobsters, prawns and mussels, paper and artefacts, art works, animals, flowers, seeds, vegetables and fruit such as oranges, apples and kiwifruit. • In October 2005 the European Community’s Convention on the Harmonisation of Frontier Controls of Goods published its current specifications for technical inspections and equipment to be used for the transport of goods under controlled temperatures.