Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports
Date: 2001-02-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: administrative formalities, harbour installation, harmonisation of standards, maritime transport, transport document

26.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 180 E/85

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities
for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports

(2001/C 180 E/06)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 46 final (cid:151) 2001/0026(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 7 February 2001)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 80(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1) The Community has an established policy to encourage
sustainable transport, such as shipping, and, in particular,
to promote short sea shipping.

(2) Facilitation of maritime transport is an essential objective
for the Community to further strengthen the position of
shipping in the transport system as an alternative and
complement to other transport modes in a door-to-door
transport chain.

(3) The documentary procedures

required in maritime
transport have caused concern and have been considered
to hamper the development of
the mode to its full
potential.

(4) The International Maritime Organisation’s Convention on
the Facilitation of Maritime Traffic adopted by the Inter-
national Conference on Facilitation of Maritime Travel and
Transport on 9 April 1965, as subsequently amended
(hereinafter the (cid:145)IMO FAL Convention(cid:146)), has provided a
set of models for standardised Facilitation Forms for
ships to fulfil certain reporting formalities when they
arrive in or depart from a port.

(5) Most Member States use these Facilitation Forms but do
not apply the models provided under the auspices of the
IMO in a uniform manner.

(6) Uniformity in the format of the forms required for a ship
arriving in and departing from a port should facilitate the
documentary procedures for port calls and be beneficial
to the development of Community shipping.

(7) Consequently, it is opportune to introduce the recognition
of
the IMO Facilitation Forms (hereinafter (cid:145)IMO FAL
Forms(cid:146)) at Community level. The Member States should
recognise the IMO FAL Forms and the categories of
information in them as sufficient proof that a ship has
fulfilled the reporting formalities these forms are intended
for.

(8) The recognition of certain IMO FAL Forms, in particular
the Cargo Declaration and (cid:151) for passenger ships (cid:151) the
Passenger List, would add to the complexity of reporting
formalities either because those forms cannot contain all
necessary information or because well-established facili-
tation practices already exist. Consequently, obligatory
recognition of those forms should not be introduced.

(9) Maritime transport

is a global activity and the intro-
duction of
in the Community
could pave the way towards their intensified application
around the world.

the IMO FAL Forms

(10)

In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the
objectives of
the proposed action, namely to facilitate
maritime transport, cannot be sufficiently achieved by
the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the
scale of the action, be better achieved by the Community.
This Directive confines itself to the minimum required in
order to achieve those objectives and does not go beyond
what is necessary for that purpose.

(11) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Directive are measures of general scope within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of
28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise
of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (1),
they should be adopted by use of
the regulatory
procedure provided for in Article 5 of that Decision,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Subject matter

The purpose of this Directive is to facilitate maritime transport,
in particular that between ports situated in the Member States,
by providing for standardisation of reporting formalities.

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

C 180 E/86

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Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.2001

Article 2

Scope

Article 4

Acceptance of Forms

This Directive shall apply to the reporting formalities set out in
Annex I, Part A, relating to a ship, its stores, its crew’s effects,
its crew list and, in the case of a ship certified to carry 12
passengers or fewer, its passenger list.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions
shall apply:

(a) (cid:145)IMO FAL Convention(cid:146) means the International Maritime
Organisation’s Convention on the Facilitation of Maritime
Traffic adopted by the International Conference on Facili-
tation of Maritime Travel and Transport on 9 April 1965;

(b) (cid:145)IMO FAL Forms(cid:146) means A4-size Standardised IMO Model
the IMO FAL

Facilitation Forms provided for under
Convention;

(c) (cid:145)reporting formality(cid:146) means the information that, when
required by a Member State, must be provided for adminis-
trative and procedural purposes when a ship arrives in or
departs from a port;

(d) (cid:145)ship(cid:146) means a seagoing vessel of any type operating in the

marine environment;

(e) (cid:145)ship’s stores(cid:146) means goods for use in the ship, including
consumable goods, goods carried for sale to passengers and
crew members,
fuel and lubricants, but excluding ship’s
equipment and spare parts;

(f)

(cid:145)ship’s equipment(cid:146) means articles other than ship’s spare
parts which are on board a ship for use thereon and are
removable but not of a consumable nature,
including
accessories, such as lifeboats, life-saving devices, furniture,
ship’s apparel and similar items;

(g) (cid:145)ship’s spare parts(cid:146) means articles of a repair or replacement
nature for incorporation into the ship in which they are
carried;

(h) (cid:145)crew’s effects(cid:146) means clothing, items in everyday use and
other articles, which may include currency, belonging to
the crew and carried on the ship;

(i)

(cid:145)crew member(cid:146) means any person actually employed for
duties on board during a voyage in the working or
service of a ship and included in the crew list;

(j)

(cid:145)passenger(cid:146) means any person on a ship other than crew
members and children under one year of age.

Member States
the reporting formalities
referred to in Article 2 are satisfied by information, which is
submitted in accordance with:

shall accept

that

(a) the respective specifications set out in Annex I, Parts B and

C, and

(b) the corresponding model forms set out in Annex II with

their categories of data.

Article 5

Amendment procedure

in order

the Annexes and references to IMO
Any amendments of
instruments
them into line with
to bring
Community or IMO measures which have entered into force
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to
in Article 6(2).

Article 6

Committee

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the committee
instituted by Article 12(1) of Council Directive 93/75/EEC (1).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory
procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 and Article 8 thereof.

The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be three months.

Article 7

Implementation

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by 30 June 2002 at the latest. They shall forthwith
inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a
reference on the occasion of
their official publication.
Member States shall determine how such reference is to be
made.

Article 8

Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

Article 9

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ L 247, 5.10.1993, p. 19. Directive as

last amended by

Commission Directive 98/74/EC (OJ L 276, 13.10.1998, p. 7).

26.6.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 180 E/87

ANNEX I

PART A

List of reporting formalities referred to in Article 2 in respect of ships arriving in and departing from
Community ports

1.

IMO FAL Form 1, General Declaration

The General Declaration shall be the basic document on arrival and departure providing information required by the
authorities of a Member State relating to the ship.

2. IMO FAL Form 3, Ship’s Stores Declaration

The Ship’s Stores Declaration shall be the basic document on arrival and departure providing information required by
authorities of a Member State relating to ship’s stores.

3. IMO FAL Form 4, Crew’s Effects Declaration

The Crew’s Effects Declaration shall be the basic document providing information required by the authorities of a
Member State relating to crew’s effects. It shall not be required on departure.

4. IMO FAL Form 5, Crew List

The Crew List shall be the basic document providing the authorities of a Member State with the information relating
to the number and composition of the crew on the arrival and departure of a ship. Where the authorities require
information about the crew of a ship on its departure, a copy of the Crew List, presented on arrival, shall be accepted
on departure if signed again and endorsed to indicate any change in the number of composition of the crew or to
indicate that no such change has occurred.

5. IMO FAL Form 6, Passenger List

For ships certified to carry 12 passengers or fewer, the Passenger List shall be the basic document providing the
authorities of a Member State with information relating to passengers on the arrival and departure of a ship.

1.

IMO FAL Form 1, General Declaration

PART B

Signatories

The authorities of the Member State shall accept a General Declaration either dated and signed by the master, the
ship’s agent or some other person duly authorised by the master, or authenticated in a manner acceptable to the
authority concerned.

2. IMO FAL Form 3, Ship’s Stores Declaration

The authorities of the Member State shall accept a Ship’s Stores Declaration either dated and signed by the master or
by some other ship’s officer duly authorised by the master and having personal knowledge of the facts regarding the
ship’s stores, or authenticated in a manner acceptable to the authority concerned.

3. IMO FAL Form 4, Crew’s Effects Declaration

The authorities of the Member State shall accept a Crew’s Effects Declaration either dated and signed by the master or
by some other ship’s officer duly authorised by the master, or authenticated in a manner acceptable to the authority
concerned. The authorities of the Member State may also require each crew member to place his signature, or, if he
is unable to do so, his mark, against the declaration relating to his effects.

4. IMO FAL Form 5, Crew List

The authorities of a Member State shall accept a Crew List either dated and signed by the master or by some other
ship’s officer duly authorised by the master, or authenticated in a manner acceptable to the authority concerned.

C 180 E/88

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Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.2001

5. IMO FAL Form 6, Passenger List

For ships certified to carry 12 passengers or fewer, the authorities of a Member State shall accept a Passenger List
either dated and signed by the master, the ship’s agent or some other person duly authorised by the master, or
authenticated in a manner acceptable to the authority concerned.

PART C

Technical specifications

1. The formats of the IMO FAL Forms shall follow the proportions of the models shown in Annex II as closely as
technically possible. They shall be printed on separate A4 size paper sheets (210 (cid:215) 297 mm) with portrait orientation.
At least 1/3 of the verso side of the Forms shall be reserved for official use by the authorities of the Member States.

For the purposes of the recognition of IMO FAL Forms, the formats and layouts of the Standardised Facilitation
Forms recommended and reproduced by the IMO based on the IMO FAL Convention as in force on 1 May 1997 shall
be considered equivalent to the formats reproduced in Annex II.

2. The authorities of the Member State shall accept information conveyed by any legible and understandable medium,

including forms filled in ink or indelible pencil or produced by automatic data-processing techniques.

3. Without prejudice to methods of transmitting data through electronic means, when a Member State accepts the
provision of ship’s reporting information in electronic form, the format of the outcome on the end-user screen and
when printed shall follow the models in Annex II.

In case of electronic transmission of a Form, the image on the end-user screen can differ from the actual A4-size but
has to follow its proportions.

ANNEX II

Models of IMO FAL Forms referred to in Article 4 and Annex I

For reasons of reproduction, the models in this Annex are shown on the scale of 4:5 in relation to an A4-size sheet.

26.6.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 180 E/89

IMO GENERAL DECLARATION

Arrival

Departure

1. Name and description of ship

2. Port of arrival/departure

3. Date —

time of arrival/departure

4. Nationality of ship

5. Name of master

6. Port arrived from/Port of destination

7. Certificate of registry (Port; date; number)

8. Name and address of ship's agent

9. Gross tonnage

10. Net tonnage

11. Position of the ship in the port (berth or station)

12. Brief particulars of voyage (previous and subsequent ports of call; underline where remaining cargo will be discharged)

13. Brief description of the cargo

14. Number of crew
(incl. master)

15. Number of passengers

16. Remarks

Attached documents (indicate number of copies)

17. Cargo Declaration

18. Ship's Stores
Declaration

19. Crew List

20. Passenger List

21. Date and signature by master, authorised agent or officer

22. Crew's Effects
Declaration (*)

For official use

23. Maritime Declaration of

Health (*)

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IMO FAL
Form 1

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(*) Only on arrival.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.2001

IMO SHIP'S STORES DECLARATION

1. Name of ship

2. Port of arrival/departure

3. Date of arrival/departure

Arrival

Departure

Page No.

4. Nationality of ship

5. Port arrived from/Port of destination

6. Number of persons

7. Period of stay

8. Place of storage

on board

9. Name of article
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11. For official use

10. Quantity

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IMO FAL
Form 3

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12. Date and signature by master, authorised agent or officer

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 180 E/91

IMO CREW'S EFFECTS DECLARATION

2. Effects which are dutiable or subject

to prohibitions or restrictions (*)

Page No.

1. Name of ship

3. Nationality of ship

4. No.

5. Family name, given names

6. Rank or
rating

7. Signature

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IIMO FAL
Form 4

8. Date and signature by master, authorised agent or officer.

___________
(*) E.g. wines, spirits, cigarettes, tobacco, etc.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.2001

IMO CREW LIST

1. Name of ship

2. Port of arrival/departure

3. Date of arrival/departure

Arrival

Departure

Page No.

4. Nationality of ship

5. Port arrived from

7. No.

8. Family name, given names

9. Rank or
rating

10. Nationality 11. Date and place of birth

6. Nature and
number of
identity
document
(seaman's
passport)

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IMO FAL
Form 5

12. Date and signature by master, authorised agent or officer.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 180 E/93

IMO PASSENGER LIST

Arrival

Departure

Page No.

1. Name of ship

2. Port of arrival/departure

3. Date of arrival/departure

4. Nationality of ship

5. Family name, given names

6. Nationality 7. Date and place of birth

8. Port of

9. Port of

embarka-
tion

disembar-
kation

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IMO FAL
Form 6

10. Date and signature by master, authorised agent or officer.