III.4.2 Cargoes carried

It is preferable that tanks and containers used for bulk transport of wine should be dedicated to carrying only must, grape sugar, wine or potable spirit. Particular care should be taken with tank cleaning when the previous cargo contained aromatic spirit or other aromatic food commodity.

Other foodstuffs may be carried as previous cargo but only with express written agreement of the Purchaser. In the case of oils, fats, dairy products, animal feed or other substances that may technically be considered as foodstuffs (food-grade products for pharmaceutical use, for example) particular precautions must be applied in regard to cleaning. The precise cleaning and sanitising steps used should be adapted according to the nature of the immediate previous cargo (see section 6.2).

For ships' tanks, the Purchaser should be advised in advance in writing of the exact nature of the previous cargo carried. In some cases, Purchasers may require details of a number of the cargoes carried prior to the shipment of the Purchaser's wine where the use of common loading or discharge equipment may cause contamination or loss of its quality. Other cargoes on the vessel at the time of loading and those planned to be handled prior to off-loading should also be identified.

For tankcontainers, the previous cargo should be noted on the cleaning certificate or  certificate of intervention.

The different parties (3.2.1., 3.2.2., 3.2.3.) must be informed of any passivation that may have been performed on the tank.

It is not permissible for Freight Forwarders to use tankcontainers that have previously carried non foodstuff cargoes[1].

[1] For sea transport, seawater must in no case be used in tanks in a regular manner to ensure the stability of the vessel.  Use of seawater for ballast is only permitted exceptionally because of difficult meteorological conditions. Seawater cannot be considered as a foodstuff.