The International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972 (CSC 1972) has two goals:
- to maintain a high level of safety of human life in the transport and handling of containers by providing acceptable test procedures and related strength requirements; and
- to provide uniform international safety regulations, equally applicable to all modes of surface transport, thereby avoiding the proliferation of divergent national regulations.

The amendments to CSC 1972 adopted by resolution MSC.355(92) enter into force on 1 July 2014 and include:
- new definitions at the beginning of annexes I and II, along with consequential amendments to ensure uniform usage of terminology throughout CSC 1972;
- amendments to align all physical dimensions and units to the SI system;
- the introduction of a transitional period for marking containers with restricted stacking capacity, as required under the relevant standard;and
- the inclusion in annex III of the list of deficiencies which do not require an immediate out-of-service decision by the control officer but do require additional safety measures to enable safe ongoing transport.