Port of Cartagena ready to implement Guarantee Seal

(Bogota, December 15, 2008).- The Latin American Port Quality Association (ALCP), proprietor of the Guarantee Seal in all Latin America, formed by the Andean Development Corporation, the Guarantee Seal Foundation of the Autonomous Government of Valencia, and the Valenciaport Foundation of the Valencia Port Authority, has concluded the second phase of the design of an integrated quality system for the port of Cartagena.

The system is based on the successful Guarantee Seal of the Port of Valencia, Spain, which is now the leading port of the western Mediterranean in container traffic, with growth and productivity rates improving from just over 800,000 TEU in 1998 to over 3,500,000 TEU in 2008.

Implementation of a Guarantee Seal means that clients of the Port of Cartagena, which use the services of duly qualified operators, will enjoy a series of advantages associated with speed, reliability and safety, which will be reflected in the capacity to guarantee the quality of the service provided.

This program began in late 2003 when the ALCP made the first contacts with the Cartagena port authorities. The Association also created the Colombian Port Quality Foundation as executing body of the system in Cartagena and other ports of the country, such as Buenaventura.

Julián Villalba, executive of the CAF Vice Presidency of Infrastructure, explained that, in the first phase of the project which lasted over two years, an initial diagnosis was made, with the participation of all members of the Port Community, focused on redefining and adapting the operating procedures of the port logistics chain to modernize, simplify and adapt them to real conditions.

The port also set up a Quality Council as a permanent advisory body, formed by key members from all associations of the Port Community, and various Working Groups, each specializing in a specific operating procedure. By the end of the phase, the Port Community had been established, and a set of improved operating procedures issued.

During the second phase, which began in July 2007 and lasted one year, various pilot tests were carried out which validated or corrected procedures. Now, at the end of this stage, the Port Community is able to define the guarantees that it will offer to its clients and implement the Guarantee Seal of the Bay of Cartagena.

The ALCP’s direct work ends with this second phase but the Association will always be available to advise the Port Community on implementation and operation of the Guarantee Seal, aware of the importance for a modern port of guaranteeing quality for clients and the consequent increase in productivity.