EPAL and UIC Reach Agreement for the Pallet Market

DUSSELDORF, GERMANY--(Marketwired - Dec 16, 2013) - The European Pallet Association e.V. (EPAL) and the railways association UIC have reached fundamental agreement on mutual pallet recognition. Both organisations will be working in the near future on the agreement that will facilitate the unrestricted exchange of both pallets between the users in a common pallet pool. This outcome was agreed during summit talks in Paris, at which EPAL was represented by Robert Holliger, President, and Martin Leibrandt, CEO, whilst Thomas Metlich, Chairman of the working group "Questions of palletisation" and Jozef Fazik, Senior Advisor, attended on behalf of the UIC.

Within the framework of a constructive meeting the representatives of both organisations were in agreement in appraising the present situation on the pallet market: "The market desires and needs unlimited exchangeability within a common pallet pool" said Thomas Metlich. The UIC and EPAL intends to continue meeting with this request by pallet users. The details and the precise arrangements of the common pallet recognition, as well as the options for further cooperation between the two organisations, will be mutually set out in the next steps. The focus for both organisations is continued assurance of the consistently high quality of the cargo carriers within the largest common pallet pool, as well as the availability to users of a comprehensive network of production and repair organisations.

With this agreement, EPAL and the UIC have taken a vital step, which offers users from trade and industry, freight forwarders and warehouse managers, as well as the manufacturing and repair organisations, a practice-orientated and user-friendly solution. The imminent agreement will encompass clear and easily comprehensible criteria and therefore guarantee the exchangeability of pallets for users.

Robert Holliger, President of EPAL, welcomed the planned agreement: "It will finally bring clarity for all participants. The pending agreement underlines the strong position of the common pallet exchange system."

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European Pallet Association e.V.
Präsident: Robert Holliger
CEO: Martin Leibrandt Ungelsheimer Weg 14
40472 Düsseldorf
info@epal-pallets.org
www.epal-pallets.org
Amtsgericht Münster VR 4439
Steuer-Nr.: 337/5934/1578