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 and repealing Directive 2002/6/EC {SEC(2009) 46} {SEC(2008) 47}
Date: 2009-01-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: administrative formalities, customs regulations, harbour installation, simplification of formalities, vessel

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 21.1.2009 
COM(2009) 11 final 

2009/0005 (COD) 

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 and repealing Directive 2002/6/EC 

{SEC(2009) 46} 
{SEC(2008) 47} 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

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CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Grounds for and objectives of the proposal 

This  proposal  for  a  directive  on  reporting  formalities  for  ships  arriving  in  and/or 
departing  from  ports  of  Member  States  of  the  Community  helps  make  reality  the 
concept of a European maritime transport space without barriers, as described in the 
Commission’s  communication  COM(2009)  10,  which  is  adopted  jointly  with  this 
proposal. 

The objective of this concept is to remove or simplify the documentary and physical 
checks conducted on ships and goods moving between ports situated in the European 
Union. 

This proposal is designed to replace Directive 2002/6/EC1 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council of 18 February 2002 in order to meet the following needs: 

Review  of  the  FAL  Convention  and  consistency  with  other  Community 

1. 
legislative acts 

The  IMO  (International  Maritime  Organisation)’s  FAL  Convention  facilitates  and 
harmonises  at  global  level  the  administrative  formalities  to  which  ships  entering  or 
leaving  ports  are  subject.  It  was  signed  on  9 April  1965  and  came  into  force  on 
5 March 1967. Several European Union Member States have signed and ratified the 
Convention since it came into force. 

On 18 February 2002, the European Union adopted Directive 2002/6/EC, under which 
Member  States  are  required  to  use  a  series  of  forms  standardised  by  the  FAL 
Convention.  Since  2002,  Community  legislation  has  been  supplemented  by  new 
legislation  in  the  field  of  safety  and  security.  The  formalities  in  question  are  those 
required under the basic directives or amendments to Council Directive 95/21/EC of 
19 June 1995 (‘port State control’), Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament 
and  of  the  Council  of  27  June  2002  establishing  a  Community  vessel  traffic 
monitoring  and  information  system,  Regulation  (EC)  No  725/2004  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on enhancing ship and port facility 
security,  which  impose  formalities  in  their  respective  areas,  and  Regulation  (EC) 
No 562/2006 (Schengen Borders Code). 

The  FAL  Convention  was  reviewed  during  the  32nd  session  of  the  IMO’s  FAL 
Committee  in  July  2005  in  order  to  extend  the  number  of  formalities  covered.  The 
July 2005 revision of the FAL Convention added one field to the General Declaration 
(form No 1) regarding the processing of waste. In accordance with the requirements 
of  Directive  2000/59/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
27 November  2000  on  port  reception  facilities  for  ship-generated  waste  and  cargo 

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Directive 2002/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 February 2002 on reporting 
formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States of the Community, 
OJ L 67, 9.3.2002, p. 31. 

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residues, waste and residue on board must, in the case of European ports, be declared. 
The links between these two legislative acts must therefore be specified. 

The changes  to Community legislation and the FAL Convention are  causing greater 
administrative  complexity  in  the  field  of  maritime  transport;  this  complexity  should 
be reduced but at the same time any reduction in maritime safety, maritime security 
and environmental protection also needs to be avoided. Nevertheless, the delegations 
from  the  EU  Member  States  to  the  FAL  Committee  meetings  will  have  to  make  an 
effort to ensure that the forms required under the FAL Convention and those required 
under existing Community legislation are in alignment. 

The  July  2005  revision  of  the  FAL  Convention  amended  the  IMO  General 
Declaration,  Ship’s  Stores  Declaration,  Crew’s  Effects  Declaration,  Crew  List  and 
Passenger  List,  as  well  as  the  corresponding  recommended  practices  and  standards. 
The Commission takes the view that, until this Directive comes into force, the parallel 
use of forms reproduced by the IMO on the basis of the IMO Convention amended in 
July 2005 should be regarded by the relevant port authorities as complying with the 
provisions of Directive 2002/6/EC currently in force. 

New  security  information  form  to  be  provided  prior  to  entry  into  a  port  in  a 

2. 
Member State 

Regulation  (EC)  No  725/2004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
31 March  2004  on  enhancing  ship  and  port  facility  security  requires  the  relevant 
maritime safety authorities in the Member States to require information to be provided 
if  a  ship  announces  its  intention  to  enter  a  port  situated  within  its  territory.  The 
Commission  has  provided  the  maritime  security  committee  established  under  that 
Regulation  (the  ‘MARSEC  committee’)  with  a  draft  form  designed  to  ensure 
harmonisation of information requests. The committee approved this harmonised draft 
information  form  at  its  fifth  meeting  on  20  March  2005,  noting  that  the  Member 
States  could  request  more  (or  less)  information  on  a  case-by-case  basis.  The 
Commission  felt  that  information  relating  to  security  should  be  notified  using  a 
harmonised  form  adopted  at  international  level  by  the  IMO's  FAL  Committee  and 
therefore  began  the  process  of  having  the  form  approved  by  the  Committee,  where 
technical  discussions  are  still  underway,  given  that  committee  meetings  are  very 
infrequent. Until the adoption of a harmonised form of this type at international level, 
the  Commission  is  proposing  as  an  interim  measure  the  form  approved  by  the 
MARSEC  committee  (Annex  III  to  this  proposal).  Once  the  FAL  committee  has 
adopted the international harmonised form, the Commission could, with the assistance 
of the MARSEC committee, introduce the international harmonised form as the single 
basis  for  security  information  requests  by  Member  States,  in  accordance  with  the 
procedure  for  amending  annexes  as  stipulated  in  Article  9  of  the  proposal  for  a 
directive. 

3. 

Insufficient information and duplication of authorities in ports 

Even  now,  fax  machines  are  still  used  in  over  half  of  ports  in  order  to  exchange 
information, whilst electronic systems for the exchange of data which could be used 
by all operators in the port community are  only present in a small number of major 
ports or Member States. This results in an increase in repetitive work and a potential 
cause  of  slowness  or  errors  which  could  be  eliminated  if  the  use  of  electronic  data 

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transmission  systems  was  more  widespread.  Under  Decision  No 70/2008/EC  on  a 
paperless  environment  for  customs  and  trade,  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council have already established the procedure to be followed and a timetable for the 
transmission  of  data  needed  for  customs  operations.  It  is  important  that  the  systems 
available to operators for non-customs reporting formalities can develop rapidly and 
consistently with customs systems. 

4. 

Inconsistent application of Directive 2002/6/EC 

Furthermore, a study of 40 ports carried out by the European Maritime Safety Agency 
showed  that  although  Directive  2002/6/EC  was  generally  well  implemented  by  the 
Member  States,  the  Directive  did  not  always  enable  the  intended  objective  of 
simplification  to  be  achieved.  Forms  were  sometimes  requested  by  several  different 
authorities,  or  information  previously  requested  had  not  always  been  deleted;  as  a 
result,  Directive  2002/6/EC  introduced  formalities  which  were  additional  to  those 
which  should  be  replaced.  Furthermore,  a  number of ports still use  forms printed in 
the national language, which sometimes include extra sections.  

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•  General background 

In its Communication [COM(2006) 380] to the Council, the European Parliament, the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 13 
July  2006  on  the  mid-term  review  of  the programme  for  the  promotion  of  short  sea 
shipping,  the  Commission,  in  response  to  reactions  from  the  Member  States  and 
industry,  confirmed  that  the  use  of  FAL  forms  had  an  important  role  in  promoting 
short  sea  shipping  and  announced  that  it  would  update  it  to  ensure  alignment  with 
recent IMO decisions. 

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•  Existing provisions in the area of the proposal 

The  purpose  behind  Directive  2002/6/EC  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 was to simplify and harmonise administrative 
formalities  and  documents  by  putting  in  place  uniform  documentary  procedures 
modelled on the International Maritime Organisation’s FAL forms. 

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•  Alignment with other Community policies 

This proposal helps to ensure that the objectives of the Lisbon Agenda can be met, in 
so  far  as  it  aims  to  simplify  administrative  procedures  and  to  use  information  and 
communication technology to increase efficiency. 

2. 

CONSULTATION OF STAKEHOLDERS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

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•  Consultation of stakeholders 

Stakeholders were consulted via the Internet, by means of presentations of preparatory 
work at forums and to groups of national experts, and two specialised seminars. 

This  consultation  enabled  the  opinions  of  the  various  public-  and  private-sector 
stakeholders  to  be  obtained.  The  contributions  have  revealed  a  relatively  broad 

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consensus  on  the  simplification  objectives  pursued.  Several  specific  comments  were 
taken into account in the technical provisions of the two resulting legislative proposals. 

Obtention and use of experts 

The  Commission  has  used  an  outside  expert  to  assess  the  cost-effectiveness  of  the 
proposal. 

The consultant assessed the costs and benefits of the options available in order to meet 
the objective of administrative simplification by conducting a bibliographic study and 
interviews of ports representative of all EU ports. 

The  main  organisations  consulted  were  members  of  the  European  Sea  Ports 
Organisation (ESPO), and the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) 
and  representatives  from  the  relevant  public  services  (in  particular,  customs  and  port 
authorities).  

The consultation did not indicate that the proposal entailed much risk. 

A  summary  of  responses  to  the  consultation  has  been  posted  on  Europa,  the 
Commission’s Internet site. 

•  Impact assessment 

The following options were considered in the impact assessment: 

Option A: no measure being taken at Community level; 

Option B: given that checks conducted on goods circulating within the internal market 
are  derived  from  various  pieces  of  legislation,  each  of  them  being  the  subject  of 
simplification on a case-by-case basis; 

Option  C:  a  series  of  coherent  measures  being  adopted  in  order  to  eliminate 
administrative obstacles to the free movement of Community goods or similar between 
EU ports. 

The  impact  assessment  report  is  a  public  document  available  on  Europa,  the 
Commission’s Internet site. 

LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Summary of the proposed measures 

In  order  to  meet  these  objectives,  this  proposal  for  a  directive  aims  to  reduce  the 
amount of information to be repeatedly provided to the various port authorities. To this 
end,  it  is  felt  that  the  transmission  of  information  as  provided  for  in  Directives 
95/21/EC,  2002/59/EC  and  2000/59/EC  and  Regulation  (EC)  No 725/2004  and,  if 
necessary,  the  International  Maritime  Dangerous  Goods  Code,  contain  all  navigation 
information  required  by  the  authorities  upon  arrival  at  and/or  departure  from  ports. 
Some  of  this  information  has  already  been  sent  electronically  via  SafeSeaNet,  the 
Community  maritime  data  exchange  system.  The  international  regulatory  authorities, 

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such  as  the  International  Maritime  Organisation  or  the  World  Customs  Organisation, 
have  developed  formats  for  the  electronic  transmission  of  FAL  forms.  These  forms 
provide port authorities with sufficient information on ships from third countries. The 
FAL  forms  are  not  required  for  ships  coming  from  a  European  Union  port.  All 
information  required  under  this  Directive  should  be  sent  electronically  to  a  single 
competent  authority  nominated by  the Member  States,  via  the  SafeSeaNet system, as 
soon  as  possible  and  by  15 February  2013  at  the  latest;  this  is  the  date  on  which  the 
provisions  of  Decision  No 70/2008/EC  on  a  paperless  environment  for  customs  and 
trade  are  to  enter  into  force.  This  proposal  includes  a  correlation  table  showing  the 
FAL forms and the information required under the legislation referred to above, as well 
as a new maritime safety form. 

The  proposal  for  a  directive  provides  that  Member  States  have  one  year  in  which  to 
transpose its provisions into national law. 

•  Legal basis 

Article 80(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community. 

•  Subsidiarity principle 

The  removal  of  obstacles  to  the  free  movement  of  goods  transported  by  sea  requires 
amendments to be made to procedures arising from the implementation of Community 
acts  and  resulting  in  two  types  of  formalities  (those  relating  to  ships  and  those 
necessary  for  the  operation  of  the  ships  and  those  relating  to  the  goods  transported). 
These are the subject of separate legislative proposals. 

•  Principle of proportionality 

The form of action proposed gives Member States a certain amount of freedom when 
imposing performance objectives, although the methods for doing so are not specified. 

The option chosen is that which is the most cost-effective in global terms for the parties 
concerned. 

•  Choice of instruments 

The  measure  implemented  is  a  proposal  for  a  directive  designed  to  replace  Directive 
2002/6/EC, currently in force. 

BUDGETARY IMPACT 

The proposal has no budgetary impact. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

•  Simplification 

The  national  authorities  will  have  less  checks  to  carry  out.  The  use  of  computerised 
communication  methods  will  enable  checks  not  covered  by  the  proposal  to  be  better 

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organised, whilst improving their efficiency. 

The proposals will considerably reduce the cost and duration of time in port and will be 
beneficial  to  maritime  transport,  thus  contributing  to  an  adjustment  in  the  balance 
between the various modes of transport. 

•  Detailed explanation of the proposal, article by article 

The objectives of the articles and annexes to the proposal for a directive are as follows: 

The objective of Article 1 is to: indicate the subject-matter of the Directive, which will 
cover  the  standardisation  of  administrative  formalities,  administrative  simplification 
and the electronic transmission of documents; 

Article  2:  to  specify  the  scope  of  the  Directive,  which  covers  the  administrative 
formalities for ships entering and/or exiting European Union ports; 

Article 3: to provide essential definitions for the purposes of the Directive; 

Article  4:  to  establish  a  24-hour  deadline  by  which  the  information  required  must  be 
sent;  this  is  in  compliance  with  the  deadlines  stipulated  in  Directive  2002/59/EC  and 
Regulation (EC) No 725/2004;  

Article  5:  to  require  information  required  under  the  Community  Directives,  if  they 
exist, to be sent in accordance with the provisions provided under these Directives. If 
no directive is applicable, the information sent pursuant to the FAL Convention must 
be accepted; 

Article 6: to require Member States to appoint a single competent authority at national 
level  for  the  collation  of  information  required  at  entry  to  and/or  exit  from  European 
Union  ports,  which  shall  be  the  authority  designated  for  the  implementation  of 
SafeSeaNet; 

Article 7: to make the use of electronic means of transmission commonplace as soon as 
possible and by 13 February 2013 at the latest  (this being the  date  given in Decision 
70/2008/EC on a paperless environment for customs and trade); 

Article  8:  to  exempt  those  moving  between  ports  situated  within  the  European 
Community's customs territory from sending FAL forms, provided that the goods are 
presumed to have Community status; 

Articles  9  and  10:  to  include  provisions  on  procedure  and  comitology  currently  in 
force; 

Article 11: to establish the means for transposing the directive by those Member States 
with a transposition deadline of one year as from the publication of the Directive; 

Article  12:  to  repeal  Directive  2002/6/EC  one  year  from  the  publication  of  the 
Directive; 

Article  13:  to  set  the  date  of  entry  into  force  of  the  Directive  as  20  days  after  its 
publication; 

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Article 14: to address the Directive to the Member States; 

Annex  I:  to  provide  a  list  of  the  FAL  forms  adopted  by  the  International  Maritime 
Organisation;  

Annex II: to set out the main definitions provided in the FAL Convention and provide 
equivalences  between  the  FAL  forms  and  those  issued  under  existing  Community 
legislation; 

Annex  III:  to  introduce  a  new  sheet  for  maritime  safety,  until  the  adoption  of  the 
relevant form by the International Maritime Organisation. 

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2009/0005 (COD) 

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 and repealing Directive 2002/6/EC 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

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 Commission2, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee3, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions4, 

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty5, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Directive  2002/6/EC6  requires  Member  States  to  accept  certain  standardised  forms 
(hereinafter, ‘FAL forms’) in order to facilitate traffic, as defined by the International 
Maritime Organisation (IMO) Convention designed to facilitate international maritime 
traffic (hereinafter, ‘FAL Convention’). 

The transmission of data required upon entry to and/or exit from ports under Council 
Directive  95/21/EC  of  19  June  1995  concerning  the  enforcement,  in  respect  of 
shipping using Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the 
Member  States,  of  international  standards  for  ship  safety,  pollution  prevention  and 
shipboard  living  and  working  conditions7,  Directive  2000/59/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  November  2000  on  port  reception  facilities  for 
ship-generated  waste  and  cargo  residues8,  Directive  2002/59/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002 establishing a Community vessel traffic 
monitoring  and  information  system  and  repealing  Council  Directive  93/75/EEC9, 

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OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 67, 9.3.2002, p. 31. 
OJ L 157, 7.7.1995, p. 1. 
OJ L 332, 28.12.2000, p. 81. 
OJ L 208, 5.8.2002, p. 10. 

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Regulation  (EC)  No  725/2004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
31 March  2004  on  enhancing  ship  and  port  facility  security10,  Regulation  (EC)  No 
562/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15  March  2006 
establishing  a  Community  Code  on  the  rules  governing  the  movement  of  persons 
across  borders  (Schengen  Borders  Code)11  and,  where  appropriate,  the  International 
Maritime  code  for  dangerous  goods  adopted  in  1960  by  the  IMO,  with  the 
amendments  thereto  adopted  and  having  entered  into  force,  covers  the  information 
required  by  FAL  forms.  These  forms  should  not  be  required,  if  this  information  is 
available. 

(3)  Widespread  use  should  be  made  of  electronic  means  of  data  transmission  for  all 
reporting formalities as soon as possible and by 15 February 2013 at the latest. 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

The  SafeSeaNet  systems  established  at  national  and  Community  levels  should 
facilitate  the  reception,  exchange  and  distribution  of  information  between  Member 
States’ information systems on maritime activity. 

Information  required  by  the  FAL  forms  is  regularly  updated.  This  Directive  should 
therefore refer to the version of these forms that is currently in force. However, the use 
of  forms  issued  following  the  application  of  Community  legislation  should  take 
precedence  if  they  exist,  until  the  forms  issued  under  the  FAL  Convention  are 
modified, following a proposal from contracting parties who are Member States of the 
European Union, in such a way as to include the relevant information. 

Ships moving between ports situated in the European Community’s customs territory 
should be exempt from the obligation to send FAL forms relating to goods, if they do 
not  come  from  a  port  situated  outside  that  territory  or  a  free  zone  subject  to  type  I 
controls  within  the  meaning  of  customs  legislation,  do  not  call  in  that  port  or  are 
headed towards them. This exemption will be possible once the goods transported by 
these  ships  have  been  presumed  to  have  Community  status  in  accordance  with 
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for 
the  implementation  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2913/92  establishing  the 
Community Customs Code12. 

A new form should be introduced in order to harmonise the information required for 
the prior security declaration provided for by Regulation (EC) No 725/2004. 

The  measures  necessary  in  order  to  implement  this  Directive  in  accordance  with 
Council  Decision  1999/468/EC  of  28  June  1999  laying  down  the  procedures  for  the 
exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission should be approved13. 

The  Commission  should  be  granted  the  authority  to  amend  the  annexes  to  this 
Directive, in so far as an amendment of this type will not have the effect of widening 
the scope of the Directive. Since those measures are general in scope and designed to 
amend non-essential provisions of this Directive and to supplement it by adding new 

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OJ L 129, 29.4.2004, p. 6. 
OJ L 105, 13.4.2006, p. 1. 
OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. 
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. 

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non-essential  elements,  they  should  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC. 

(10)  Since  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  or  effects  of  the  action,  be  better  achieved  at  Community  level,  the 
Community  may  take  measures,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity  set 
out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as 
set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to 
achieve those objectives. 

(11)  The  measures  stipulated  in  this  Directive  help  achieve  the  objectives  of  the  Lisbon 

Agenda. 

(12) 

In the interest of clarity, Directive 2002/6/EC should be replaced by this Directive, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

Article 1 
Subject 

The purpose of this Directive is to simplify the administrative procedures applied to maritime 
transport,  on  arrival  in  or  departure  from  ports  in  Member  States  of  the  Community,  by 
making  the  electronic  transmission  of  information  and  the  rationalisation  of  reporting 
formalities standard. 

Article 2 
Scope 

This  Directive  applies  to  the  reporting  formalities  for  ships  arriving  in  and  departing  from 
ports in Member States of the Community. 

Article 3 
Definitions 

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

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

‘reporting  formality’  shall  mean  the  information  which,  in  accordance  with  the 
legislation  in  force  in  a  Member  State,  must  be  provided  for  administrative  and 
procedural  purposes  when  a  ship  arrives  in  or  departs  from  a  port  in  that  Member 
State; 

‘FAL  Convention’  shall  mean 
international maritime traffic, adopted on 9 April 1965, as amended; 

the  IMO  convention  designed 

to  facilitate 

‘FAL forms’ shall mean the standardised forms provided for in the FAL convention 
described in Annex I to this Directive; 

(d) 

‘ship’ shall mean a seagoing vessel of any type operating in the marine environment; 

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(e) 

‘SafeSeaNet’  shall  mean  the  Community  maritime  information  exchange  system 
developed by the Commission in cooperation with the Member States to ensure the 
implementation of Community legislation. 

Article 4 
Notification prior to entry into ports of the Member States 

The shipmaster or any other person duly authorised by the operator of the ship shall provide 
notification, prior to entering a port situated in a Member State, of the information required 
under the reporting formalities to the relevant authority appointed by that Member State: 

a) 

at least twenty-four hours in advance, or 

at the latest, at the time the ship leaves the previous port, if the voyage time is less than 

b) 
twenty-four hours; or 

if  the  port  of  call  is  not  known  or  it  is  changed  during  the  voyage,  as  soon  as  this 

c) 
information is available.  

Until the adoption of a harmonised form at international level, the information required under 
Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 725/2004 shall be sent using the form given in Annex III to 
this Directive. 

Article 5 
Acceptance of FAL forms 

If  the  FAL  forms  are  meant  to  provide  the  information  required  under  a  Community 
legislative act, the Member States shall consider the information communicated in accordance 
with that act to be sufficient. 

If  the  FAL  forms  are  meant  to  provide  information  not  required  under  a  Community 
legislative act, the Member  States shall  consider that the reporting formalities referred to in 
Article 2 have been completed sufficiently if such information complies with the provisions 
of the FAL Convention in force. 

The  information  shall  be  considered  to  comply  if  it  results  from  the  application  of  the 
definitions referred to in the FAL Convention given in Annex II and is notified using the FAL 
forms  listed  in  Annex  I,  using  the  methods  established  in  the  FAL  Convention.  The  FAL 
forms must be submitted in accordance with the language rules specified by the International 
Maritime Organisation.  

Article 6 
Competent authority 

Member States shall ensure that the information received in accordance with this Directive is 
available within their national SafeSeaNet system and made available to other Member States 
via the SafeSeaNet system, under the responsibility of a competent authority appointed by the 
Member States in which the port is situated, in accordance with Directive 2002/59/EC. 

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Article 7 
Electronic transmission of documents 

Member  States  shall,  by  the  entry  into  force  of  this  Directive  at  the  latest,  conduct relevant 
studies  and  investigations  in  order  to  allow  the  use  of  electronic  means  of  transmitting  the 
data necessary for the administrative formalities as soon as possible and by 15 February 2013 
at the latest. 

These  means  must  be  interoperable,  accessible  and  compatible  with  the  SafeSeaNet  system 
established  in  accordance  with  Directive  2002/59/EC,  and  with  the  computer  systems 
stipulated in Decision No 70/2008/EC14, so as to ensure that no information is encoded more 
than  once.  Member  States  shall  consult  economic  operators  and  inform  the  Commission  of 
progress made using the methods stipulated in that Decision. 

Article 8 
Exemptions 

Ships falling within the scope of Directive 2002/59/EC and moving between ports situated in 
the  European  Community’s  customs  territory,  but  which  do  not  come  from,  call  in  or  are 
headed towards a port situated outside that territory or a free zone subject to type I controls 
under customs legislation shall be exempt from the obligation to send the information referred 
to in the FAL forms, without prejudice to the applicable Community legislation. 

Article 9 
Amendment procedure 

The Commission may adopt the measures for amending the Annexes to this Directive, in so 
far  as  an  amendment  of  this  type  does  not  result  in  widening  in  the  scope  of  the  Directive. 
These  measures,  designed  to  amend  non-essential  provisions  of  this  Directive,  shall  be 
adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 10(2). 

Article 10 
Committee procedure 

1. 

For the purposes of adopting measures relating to maritime security, and particularly 
those  relating  to  the  amendment  of  the  Annexes  to  this  Directive,  the  Commission 
shall be assisted by the Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from 
Ships (COSS), established under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2099/2002 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council15. 

For the purposes of adopting measures relating to maritime security and particularly 
those relating to the amendment of Annex III, the Commission shall be assisted by 
the  Maritime  Security  Committee  (MARSEC),  established  under  Article  11  of 
Regulation (EC) No 725/2004. 

14 
15 

OJ L 23, 26.1.2008, p. 21. 
OJ L 324, 29.11.2002, p. 1. 

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2. 

1. 

Where  reference  is  made  to  this  paragraph,  Article  5a(1)  to  (4)  and  Article  7  of 
Decision  No 1999/468/EC  shall  apply,  having  regard  to  the  provisions  of  Article  8 
thereof. 

Article 11 
Transposition 

Member States shall adopt and publish, by [twelve months after the entry into force 
of  this  Directive]  at  the  latest,  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions 
necessary  to  comply  with  this  Directive.  They  shall  forthwith  communicate  to  the 
Commission  the  text  of  those  provisions  and  a  correlation  table  between  those 
provisions and this Directive. 

They shall apply those provisions from [twelve months after date of entry into force 
of this Directive]. 

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. 

2. 

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions 
of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. 

Article 12 

Directive 2002/6/EC shall be repealed as of  [12 months after the date of entry into force of 
this  Directive].  Any  references  to  the  repealed  Directive  shall  be  construed  as  references  to 
this Directive. 

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

Article 13 

Article 14 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX I 

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

1. 

FAL form 1: General Declaration 

The  general  declaration  is  the  basic  document  provided  on  arrival  and  departure 
containing information relating to the ship required by the authorities of a Member 
State. 

2. 

FAL form 2: Cargo Declaration 

The  cargo  declaration  is  the  basic  document  containing  information  relating  to  the 
cargo,  required  by  the  authorities  on  both  arrival  and  departure.  However, 
information on hazardous cargo may be requested separately. 

3. 

FAL form 3: Ship’s Stores Declaration 

The ship’s stores declaration is the basic document provided on arrival and departure 
containing  the  data  required  by  the  authorities  of  a  Member  State  relating  to  ship's 
stores. 

4. 

FAL form 4: Crew's Effects Declaration 

The crew’s effects declaration is the basic document requested on arrival containing 
data required by the authorities of a Member State relating to crew’s effects. It is not 
required on departure. 

5. 

FAL form 5: Crew List 

The  crew  list  is  the  basic  document  required  by  the  authorities  of  a  Member  State 
containing  data  relating  to  the  number  and  composition  of  the  crew  at  arrival  and 
departure of a ship. 

Where  the  authorities require information about the  crew of a ship on  its departure 
from  the  port,  one  of  the  copies  of  the  crew  list,  presented  on  arrival,  shall  be 
accepted  on  departure,  provided  it  is  signed  again  by  the  master  or  an  officer  duly 
authorised  by  him,  and  endorsed  to  indicate  any  change  in  the  number  or 
composition of the crew at the time of the ship’s departure or to indicate that no such 
change has occurred during the ship’s stay in the port. 

6. 

FAL form 6: Passenger List 

For  ships  certified  to  carry  12  passengers  or  fewer,  the  passenger  list  is  the  basic 
document provided to the authorities of a Member State containing the data relating 
to passengers on arrival and departure of a ship. 

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7. 

FAL form 7: Dangerous Goods 

The  Dangerous  Goods  Manifest  is  the  basic  document  providing  information  on 
dangerous  goods  to  the  authorities  of  a  Member  State.  In  the  case  of  multimodal 
transport,  this  document  may  be  replaced  by  the  multimodal  transport  form  for 
dangerous goods contained in the IMDG code reproduced in the Annex to the IMO 
FAL Convention. 

8. 

Form for providing security information prior to entry into a port of a Member State 

The form containing security information prior to arrival in a port of a Member State 
is  the  basic  document  providing  security  authorities  in  a  Member  State  with  the 
necessary information relating to security and meets the requirements laid out in the 
SOLAS XI-2/9 regulation and Regulation (EC) No 75/2004.  

9. 

Maritime declaration of health 

The  declaration  of  health  is  the  basic  document  required  by  the  Member  State’s 
authorities containing information relating to the ship’s sanitary condition, whilst at 
sea and on arrival in port. 

The  following  correlation  table  provides  a  comparison  between  the  FAL  Convention  forms 
and, where they exist, the formalities required under EU directives which can be considered to 
overlap as regards subject matter: 

Correlation table 

IMO FAL Convention forms 

IMO General Declaration (FAL Form 1) 

Specific Community or international 
legislation providing equivalent 
information 

Notification  prior  to  entry  into  ports  of  the 
Member  States  (Article  4  of  Directive 
2002/59/EC) 

IMO  Crew  List  (FAL  form  5)  and  IMO 
Passenger List (FAL form 6) 

Border  checks  on  persons  (Article  7  of 
Regulation (EC) No 562/2006) 

IMO  Dangerous  Goods  Manifest  (FAL  form 
No 7) 

IMDG multimodal dangerous goods form 

Notification  of  dangerous  or  polluting  goods 
carried  on  board  (Article  13  of  Directive 
2002/59/EC) 

Declaration of dangerous goods (IMDG Code 
chapter 5.4) 

Declaration of security described in Annex III 
until  the  adoption  of  a  security  form  by  the 
FAL committee 

Provision  of  security  information  prior  to 
entry into a port of a Member State (Article 6 
of Regulation (EC) No 725/2004) 

Relevant  annex 
Declaration 

to 

the 

IMO  General 

Maritime declaration of health 

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Relevant box in the IMO General Declaration  Notification [of waste] (Article 6 of Directive 

2000/59/EC) 

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Definitions for the purposes of the reporting formalities referred to in this Directive 

ANNEX II 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

‘Cargo’ shall mean any goods, merchandise, objects or items of any kind transported 
on  board  a  ship,  with  the  exception  of  post,  ship’s  stores,  spare  parts,  apparel  and 
tackle, crew’s effects and baggage accompanied by passengers; 

‘Ship’s  stores’  shall  mean  goods  for  use  on  the  ship,  including  consumable  goods, 
goods  meant  for  sale  to  passengers  and  crew  members,  fuel  and  lubricants,  but 
excluding ship’s equipment and spare parts; 

‘Ship’s  equipment’  shall  mean  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; 

‘Ship’s  spare  parts’  shall  mean  articles  of  a  repair  or  replacement  nature  for 
incorporation into the ship in which they are carried; 

‘Crew’s effects’ shall mean clothing, items in everyday use and other articles, which 
may include currency, belonging to the crew and carried on the ship; 

‘Crew member’ shall mean 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; 

‘Passenger’  shall  mean  any  person  on  board  a  ship  other  than  crew  members  or 
children under one year of age. 

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