Multimodal transport: intermodal loading units, transferred containers or swap bodies

The committee adopted the report by Ulrich STOCKMANN (PES, D) broadly approving the proposal, subject to a few amendments (codecision procedure, 1st reading): - third country containers that comply with the inspection requirements of the CSC should not be subjected to further controls on arriving in Europe; - there must be no conflict between the ISO standards and the requirements set out in the directive; - if a certain authority issues the CE marking or the indication of periodic inspection, and the loading unit proves not to be in conformity, Member States may withdraw authorisation for that authority to carry out conformity assessment and regular inspection procedures; - inspections should be carried out at intervals not exceeding 30 months (rather than 24 months as proposed), in order to bring inspection requirements into line with the international convention; - Member States should work towards full harmonisation of the penalties applicable in case of infringement of the directive.�