BIR urges information-sharing on theft and fraud

Global – The BIR world recycling organisation has reiterated its call to members to use the services of the International Chamber of Commerce’s anti-crime unit, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), in order to minimise losses to container theft and fraud.The BIR and the IMB joined forces recently to collate information on such illegal activities. ‘Once a critical mass of information has been reached, the IMB can analyse the data and provide some meaningful assistance to industry in combating the problem,’ states BIR.

Reports of fraud and malpractice by existing trading partners are also welcomed by the IMB. ‘These reports will be sanitised and kept on record, with the Bureau acting as a clearing house for information which can be utilised by the BIR membership,’ explains the world body. ‘There has previously been a reluctance to share such information, but by disseminating such details others in the industry may avoid losses and the potential fraudsters themselves discouraged.’

One facility available to BIR members is checking counterparties against IMB’s company database, which currently comprises over 200 000 companies. ‘Over the years, this has proved to be an effective loss-prevention tool for IMB members in other industries,’ BIR points out. ‘IMB provides a sanitised report of any information that they have on a company, which may help to provide a degree of confidence over an unknown company by showing their past trading activities.’

For more information, visit: www.icc-ccs.org/icc/imb