View source for Bureau International des Containers

{{Infobox organization
| name = Bureau International des Containers
| abbreviation = BIC
| established = 1933
| image = 
| caption = 
| type = Registration
| status = Active
| headquarters = [[Paris]]<ref>[https://www.bic-code.org/about-us/staff/ BIC Head Office in Paris]</ref>
| leader_title        = 
| leader_name         = 
| leader_title2       = 
| leader_name2        = 
| parent_organization= National Registration Organizations
| affiliations= [[Customs Convention on Containers]]
| footnotes =
| revenue = 
| website = {{URL|https://www.bic-code.org/}}
}}

The '''Bureau International des Containers et du Transport Intermodal''' (originally {{langx|fr|Bureau International des Conteneurs| lit=International Container Bureau}}) (BIC)<ref>[http://www.csiu.co/container-prefixes Container Prefixes - CSI Container Services International]</ref><ref>[http://www.containerhandbuch.de/chb_e/stra/index.html?/chb_e/stra/stra_03_03_00.html Online Container Handbook - by Collective German insurers]</ref> oversees standards for [[intermodal container]]s (commonly referred to as shipping containers).

The goal of the organization is to promote cooperation among corporations, governments and independent organizations relating to [[intermodal freight transport]], the process of [[containerization]], and the transport and handling of intermodal shipping containers.

== History ==
BIC was originally established in 1933 under the auspices of the [[International Chamber of Commerce]]. The Bureau suspended its operations during [[World War II]], with resumption in 1948.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16972758 |title=INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER BUREAU. |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=18 April 1933 |accessdate=27 October 2011 |page=13 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In June 1933, the Bureau decided on obligatory parameters for containers used in international transport in Europe. Containers handled by means of lifting gear, such as cranes, overhead conveyors, etc. for traveling elevators (group I containers), constructed after July 1, 1933. Obligatory Regulations: 
* Clause 1.—Containers are, as regards form, either of the closed or the open type, and, as regards capacity, either of the heavy or the light type. 
* Clause 2.—The loading capacity of containers must be such that their total weight (load, plus tare) is: 5 metric tons for containers of the heavy type; 2.5 metric tons for containers of the light type; a tolerance of 5 percent excess on the total weight is allowable under the same conditions as for wagon loads.

[[File:Gueterwagen_anagoria.JPG|upright=1.35|thumb|'' 'Behältertragwagen' ''("BT / container flatcar") predecessor to the ISO-type, with four mobile containers, including one open-top'' 'Von Haus zu Haus' '' ("Door-to-door") type.]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Obligatory norms for European containers since 1 July 1933 
! Heavy types !!	length (m)	!! width (m)	!! height (m)	!! Total mass [tons]
|-
| Closed type 62	|| 3.25 	|| 2.15|| 	2.20 
| rowspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | 	5 
|-
| Closed type 42 ||	2.15 ||	2.15 || 	2.20 
|-
| Open type 61 ||	3.25 || 	2.15 || 	1.10 
|-
| Open type 41 ||	2.15 || 	2.15 || 	1.10 
|}

{| class="wikitable"
!  Light Type !!	length (m) !!	width (m) !!	height (m)		!! Total mass [tons]
|-
| Closed type 22 ||	2.15 || 	1.05 || 	2.20  
| rowspan="3" style="text-align: center;" |	2,5 
|-
| Closed type 201 ||	2.15 || 	1.05 || 	1.10 
|-
| Open type 21 ||	2.15 || 	1.05 || 	1.10 
|}

In April 1935 BIC established second standard for European containers:<ref name="logistica2014a" >{{Cite journal | first = Krzysztof | last =  Lewandowski | title = Czechoslovak activity to prepare European norms for containers before the Second World War | journal =  Acta Logistica | volume =  1 | year =  2014 | issue = 4 | pages = 1–7 | doi = 10.22306/al.v1i4.25 | issn = 1339-5629 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270794211| format = PDF | doi-access = free }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Obligatory norms for European containers since 1 April 1935 
! Category !! 	Length (m) !!	Width (m) !!	Height (m) !!	Total mass [tons]
|-
! colspan="5" style="text-align: center;" |  Heavy types
|-
| Closed 62 ||	3,25 ||	2.15 ||	2,550
| rowspan="4" style="text-align: center;" |	5 
|-
| Closed 42 || 	2,15 ||	2,15 ||	2,550
|-
| Open 61 ||	3,25 ||	2,15 ||	1,125
|-
| Open 41 ||	2,15 ||	2,15 ||	1,125 
|-
! colspan="5" style="text-align: center;" | Light Type
|-
| Closed 32 ||	1,50 ||	2,15 ||	2,550 
| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |	2,5 
|-
| Closed 22 ||	1,05 ||	2,15 ||	2,550
|}	
===1951 Zürich conference and UIC standard 590: "Pa-behälter"===
From 14–23 April 1951, at [[Zürich]] [[Zürich Tiefenbrunnen railway station|Tiefenbrunnen]], the Swiss Transportation Association,<ref>original: Verein'' 'Verkehrshaus der Schweiz','' (lit. 'Transport House of Switzerland', now the [[Swiss Transport Museum]]</ref> under auspices of the Bureau International des Containers (BIC), held a comprehensive international exhibition of container systems, aimed to select the best standards for Western Europe. Represented were France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Italy, and Sweden; with USA observers. The [[International Union of Railways]], UIC,<ref>Abbreviated from their original French name 'Union Internationale des Chemins de fer</ref> then standardised a container system for Western Europe called [[Roller_container#History|''''P'''orteur-'''a'''ménagé', or "'''Pa'''-Behälter"]] / "'''Pa'''-containers" ([[UIC&nbsp;590]]), based on the Netherlands' systems of waste disposal containers and'' 'Laadkisten' ''("loading crates") for consumer goods. Used since 1934, these were at first {{cvt|2.5|x|2|x|2|m|ft}} in size, with a maximum gross weight of {{cvt|3000|kg|-2}}. Fitted with rollers underneath, these units could be loaded and unloaded by drivers of trucks equipped with a winch and telescoping ramps – without any other handling equipment. This enabled the practice of dropping and picking-up of such containers'' 'Von Haus zu Haus' ''("door-to-door"). 

'''UIC&nbsp;590''' became the first [[International standard|pan-European standard]] after World War&nbsp;II. Its system was adopted in Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, West Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. Using the previously BIC-defined sizes, containers of {{cvt|3.25|x|2.15|m|ft}} were a practical size to be transported ''lengthwise'' on most countries' trucks, and ''transversely'' on railcars.

===ISO containers and BIC registration – ISO 6346===
Once the larger containers of the ISO-design were gradually popularized, the "Pa-Behälter" system was supplanted, and withdrawn from use by the railways. From the 1970s on, the Pa-system was reutilized in several European countries for transport of waste disposal by trucks,<ref name="PojazdySzynowe2015" >{{Cite journal | first = Krzysztof | last =  Lewandowski | title = ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS USE THE ACTS SYSTEM (pol. WYMAGANIA ORGANIZACYJNE STOSOWANIA SYSTEMU ACTS ) | journal =  Pojazdy Szynowe | volume =  2 | year =  2014 | pages = 1–14 | issn = 0138-0370 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269251044 | format = PDF }}</ref> especially open [[container|skips]] for [[demolition]] / [[construction waste]].

The Bureau International des Containers (BIC) was elected by the [[International Standardization Organization]] (ISO) in the late 1960s as the single [[:wikt:registrar|registrar]] office in charge of the registration and protection of the container's owners and operator's identification code. These "BIC codes" were later standardised under [[ISO 6346]]. They ensure a unique code-number for every shipping container in the world. They started with the European'' 'Pa-container' ''system, and they must still be registered with BIC.

The [[Customs Convention on Containers]] (CCC-1972) in a recent amendment, enforced since 2008, also makes reference to the [[ISO 6346]] standard, and code registration with BIC, to allow the free circulation of containers worldwide.

==Facilities==
The BIC is headquartered 41 rue Réaumur, 75003, Paris, France.

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.bic-code.org/|BIC's official website}}

{{Intermodal containers}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Standards organisations in France]]
[[Category:Intermodal containers]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Paris]]