Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2001)46 - Ing formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
dossier | COM(2001)46 - Ing formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports. |
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source | COM(2001)46 ![]() |
date | 07-02-2001 |
Public authorities frequently require, for their retention on arrival and/or departure of a ship, documents and information relating, inter alia, to the ship, its stores, its crew's effects, its crew and passengers. These requirements are formalities that ships have to fulfil when calling at ports.
Commission Communication COM(1999) 317 final on short sea shipping i recognised that the formats of the documents to be submitted for the provision of such information differed considerably between Member States.
The use of different formats of documents for the same or similar purposes creates complexity for maritime transport and, in particular, short sea shipping. Therefore, the Commission recommended in Communication COM(1999) 317 final that 'EU Member States should consider accepting a uniform set of ship arrival and departure forms based on IMO FAL forms 1, 3, 4 and 5 when those forms are applicable' (point 9.2.3 of the Communication and Recommendation No. 12 in Annex I to it).
The Transport Council, in its Resolution of 14 February 2000 on the promotion of short sea shipping i, invited the Commission to present proposals as regards uniform application of IMO FAL forms in the Community (Council Resolution, point 12b).
Furthermore, the European Parliament, in its Resolution of 7 July 2000 i on Commission Communication COM(1999) 317 final, stated that it is particularly important to simplify and streamline administrative formalities and documents.
Contents
- 2. The Solution: Recognition of Standard Ship's Arrival and Departure Forms in the Community
- 2.1. Facilitation of Maritime Traffic within the framework of the International Maritime Organisation
- 2.2. Implementation of IMO FAL Forms in the Member States
- Source: CODISSSART / IMO 1998b, Annex
- 2 IMO FAL Form acceptable without modification
- 3 National form based on IMO FAL Form adopted
- 4 IMO FAL Form not yet acceptable, adoption under consideration
- 5 IMO FAL Form unacceptable, national form remains in use
- 2.3. Recognition of Standardised IMO FAL Forms in the Community
- 2.3.1. Note on IMO FAL Forms Nos. 2 and 6
- 2.3.1.1. Cargo Declaration
- 2.3.1.2. Passenger List
2.1. Facilitation of Maritime Traffic within the framework of the International Maritime Organisation
The International Maritime Organisation's Convention on Facilitation of Maritime Traffic (IMO FAL Convention) was signed on 9 April 1965 and came into force on 5 March 1967. The Convention has been signed by most Member States. It has been amended several times and will most probably be reviewed again in the future.
As it stands, the Convention recommends, inter alia, the use by national authorities of six standardised forms to be filled in for ships to report when arriving in port and departing from port:
IMO General Declaration (Form No.
1),
IMO Cargo Declaration (Form No.
2),
IMO Ship's Stores Declaration (Form No.
3),
IMO Crew's Effects Declaration (Form No.
4),
IMO Crew List (Form No.
5), and
IMO Passenger List (Form No.
6).
According to information available i:
- 2 Member States accept the IMO General Declaration Form without modifications,
- 7 Member States accept the IMO Cargo Declaration Form without modifications,
- 5 Member States accept the IMO Ship's Stores Declaration Form without modifications,
- 6 Member States accept the IMO Crew's Effects Declaration Form without modifications,
- 9 Member States accept the IMO Crew List Form without modifications.
A number of Member States do not accept all the IMO FAL Forms but require national forms, sometimes similar to FAL, to be completed.
Table 1: Implementation of FAL Standard forms by Member States:
>TABLE POSITION>
Code 1 No documentary requirement
* Indicates qualification to IMO FAL Form.
The Commission has decided to use the IMO FAL Forms as the basis for its proposal.
The proposal reflects the relevant existing IMO model FAL Forms in detail because the Commission considers that it would not be opportune to establish a separate set of documents for the Community for the same purpose as IMO FAL Forms are used world-wide. Community support to the FAL Forms could also encourage wider application of them in their model format and, consequently, lead to facilitation of documentary procedures world-wide.
The proposal provides that the Member States are to accept a set of common standardised IMO FAL Forms when they require any or all the information contained in those forms as part of the reporting formalities for a ship to arrive in and/or depart from a Community port. The FAL Forms are intended to fulfil the purpose of providing that reporting information in documentary form and to be sufficient for ships to report on arrival and departure. The proposal provides for IMO FAL Forms Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 for all ships and No. 6 for cargo ships to be sufficient for the particular formalities they cover:
* Provision of information relating to the ship (General Declaration, Form No.
1);
* Provision of information relating to ship's stores (Ship's Stores Declaration, Form No.
3);
* Provision of information relating to crew's effects (Crew's Effects Declaration, Form No.
4);
* Provision of the information relating to the number and composition of the crew (Crew List, Form No.
5);
* For ships certified to carry 12 passengers or fewer (cargo ships), provision of information relating to passengers (Passenger List, Form No.
6).
The Member States will not be able to require other categories of information than those on the relevant IMO FAL Forms or require any other documents or formats to satisfy the particular formalities for which the FAL forms covered by the proposal are intended. The Member States would also have to accept the Forms signed by the signatories stipulated in the IMO FAL Convention.
In respect of the IMO FAL Forms concerned, there does not seem to be any justification for restricting the uniform recognition to short sea trades or to Community flags. The purpose of the documents to be submitted in Community ports is the same for any trade or flag. Also, the IMO FAL Convention does not distinguish between trades or flags. Consequently, the Commission proposes that the Directive should apply to all ships arriving in or departing from Community ports, irrespective of flag or trade.
The proposal does not make it compulsory for the Member States to introduce any formalities they do not currently require to be fulfilled. Nor would they be obliged to require the submission of all the information that may be provided for in the IMO FAL Forms. However, they cannot require the submission of more information for the formalities concerned.
Member States remain free to ask for information relating to other topics and formalities in other formats (subject to other Community and/or international rules), including information pertaining to registry, measurement, safety, manning, cargo carried and customs procedures, as long as those topics and formalities are not covered by the IMO FAL Forms concerned.
Certain Member States have notified to IMO differences between national practices and standards and recommended practices of the IMO FAL Convention. Those notifications of national practices that are incompatible with the scope of this Directive should be withdrawn because they are rendered superfluous by this Directive.
The proposal does not make it compulsory for the Member States to sign or accept the IMO FAL Convention.
If the IMO FAL Forms concerned were transmitted electronically, the proportions of their electronic end-format on the end-user screen and when printed would have to follow the proportions of the standardised model forms. The proposal does not aim to harmonise the interconnection tools or types of electronic messaging used to transfer the data itself.
The Commission does not propose uniformity in relation to IMO FAL Form No. 2 (Cargo Declaration) because that document is commonly replaced by cargo manifests which serve both commercial and authority purposes. There would be a danger that including that Form in the proposal would actually introduce a new document and add to administrative complexity in shipping instead of facilitating it. In other words, for the provision of cargo information, an IMO FAL Form would be required in addition to manifests often accepted in their commercial format today. Further, a manifest can include more detailed information than IMO FAL Form No. 2 does.
No indications have been received that passenger lists (IMO FAL Form No.
6) would generally create problems. Established standard practices exist in Europe at least for regular services. In addition, the IMO FAL Form does not include all information required, inter alia, by Council Directive 98/41/EC i (in particular, as to sex and special care or assistance).
However, for the sake of consistency, the Commission proposes recognition of IMO FAL Passenger Lists for ships not covered by Directive 98/41/EC (that is, cargo ships with 12 passengers or fewer).
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