Amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States of the Community ports
Date: 2001-12-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: administrative formalities, customs regulations, harbour installation, simplification of formalities, vessel

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Amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting
formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States of the
Community (1)

(2002/C 103 E/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 753 final — 2001/0026(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 6 December 2001)

(1) OJ C 180 E, 26.6.2001, p. 85.

INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Unchanged

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 the Economic and Social
Committee,

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,
subsequently
amended (hereinafter ‘the IMO FAL Convention’), has
provided a set of models for standardised Facilitation
Forms for ships to fulfil certain reporting formalities
when they arrive in and depart from a port.

as

(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,
subsequently
amended (hereinafter ‘the IMO FAL Convention’), has
provided a set of models for standardised Facilitation
Forms for ships to fulfil certain reporting formalities
when they arrive in and/or depart from a port.

as

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

(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.

Unchanged

(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.

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

the IMO Facilitation Forms (hereinafter

(7) Consequently, it is opportune to introduce the recognition
of
‘IMO FAL
Forms’) 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.

Unchanged

(8) The recognition of certain IMO FAL Forms, in particular
the Cargo Declaration and — for passenger ships — 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-
the IMO FAL Forms in the Community
duction of
could pave the way towards their intensified application
around the world.

(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
regulatory
procedure provided for in Article 5 of that Decision,

the

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

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

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.

The purpose of this Directive is to facilitate maritime transport
by providing for standardisation of reporting formalities.

Article 2

Scope

Unchanged

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.

This Directive shall apply to the reporting formalities on arrival
in and/or departure from ports of the Member States of the
Community, as 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

Unchanged

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

(a) ‘IMO FAL Convention’ 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) ‘IMO FAL Forms’ means A4-size Standardised IMO Model
the IMO FAL

Facilitation Forms provided for under
Convention;

(c) ‘reporting formality’ 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) ‘ship’ means a seagoing vessel of any type operating in the

marine environment;

(e) ‘ship's stores’ 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)

‘ship's equipment’ 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;

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

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

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

(i)

‘crew member’ 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)

‘passenger’ means any person on a ship other than crew
members and children under one year of age.

Deleted

Article 4

Acceptance of Forms

Unchanged

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

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

amendments of Annexes
in order

to IMO
Any
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).

and references

Any amendments of Annexes I and II to this Directive and
references to IMO instruments in order to bring them into
line with Community or IMO measures which have entered
into force shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory
in so far as such
procedure referred to in Article 6(2),
amendments do not broaden the scope of this Directive.

Article 6

Committee

Unchanged

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

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

to Article

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 8 thereof.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period provided for
1999/468/EC shall be three months.

in Article 5(6) of Decision

Unchanged

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

last amended by

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

3.
___________
(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).

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

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

Article 7

Implementation

Unchanged

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

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive not later than . . . (1). 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
their official publication.
reference on the occasion of
Member States shall determine how such reference is to be
made.

Unchanged

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.

ANNEX I

PART A

Unchanged

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

List of reporting formalities referred to in Article 2 in respect of
ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member
States of the Community

1.

IMO FAL Form 1, General Declaration

Unchanged

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.

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

2.

IMO FAL Form 3, Ship's Stores Declaration

Unchanged

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.

The Ship's Stores Declaration shall be the basic document on
arrival and/or departure providing information required by auth-
orities of a Member State relating to ship's stores.

3.

IMO FAL Form 4, Crew's Effects Declaration

Unchanged

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.
shall not be required on
departure.

It

___________
(1) Eighteen months after the date of entry into force of this Directive.

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

4.

IMO FAL Form 5, Crew List

The Crew List shall be the basic document providing the auth-
orities 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.

The Crew List shall be the basic document providing the auth-
orities of a Member State with the information relating to the
number and composition of
the crew on the arrival and/or
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

Unchanged

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.

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/or departure of a ship.

PART B

Signatories

Unchanged

1. IMO FAL Form 1, General Declaration

the Member State shall accept a General
The authorities of
Declaration either dated and signed by the master,
the ship's
agent or some other person duly authorised by the master, or auth-
enticated 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 auth-
enticated 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 crewmember to place his
the
signature, or,
declaration relating to his effects.

if he is unable to do so, his mark, against

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.

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

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 auth-
orised 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.
sheets
They
shall be printed on separate A4 size paper
(210 × 297 mm) with portrait orientation. At
the
verso side of the Forms shall be reserved for official use by the
authorities of the Member States.

least 1/3 of

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
including
conveyed by any legible and understandable medium,
forms filled in ink or indelible pencil or produced by automatic
data-processing techniques.

3. Without prejudice to methods of transmitting data through elec-
tronic 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.

3. Without prejudice to methods of transmitting data through elec-
tronic means, when a Member State accepts the provision of
ship's reporting information in electronic form, it shall accept the
transmission of that information when produced by electronic data-
processing or interchange techniques that conform with inter-
national standards, provided it
is in legible and understandable
form and contains the required information.

Member States may subsequently process the accepted data in any
format they consider appropriate.

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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.

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