Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/253 of 16 February 2015 laying down the rules concerning the sampling and reporting under Council Directive 1999/32/EC as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels

17.2.2015 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 41/55
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2015/253
of 16 February 2015
laying down the rules concerning the sampling and reporting under Council Directive 1999/32/EC as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Directive 1999/32/EC of 26 April 1999 relating to a reduction in the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels and amending Directive 93/12/EEC (1), and in particular Articles 6(1b) and 7(1a) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) A cost-efficient and coherent implementation and enforcement of Directive 1999/32/EC is of high priority to achieve its projected health and environmental benefits resulting from reduced sulphur dioxide emissions from shipping, thus promoting fair competition and increased sustainability of maritime transport.
(2) In order to implement Articles 3a, 4a and 4b of Directive 1999/32/EC effectively, it is necessary that Member States ensure sufficiently frequent and accurate sampling of marine fuels delivered to ships or used on board ships, including inspections of ships' log books and bunker delivery notes.
(3) Article 6(1) of Directive 1999/32/EC requires Member States to take all necessary measures to check by sampling the sulphur content of the marine fuel being used for on-board combustion while in relevant sea areas and ports. In this context, sampling should be broadly construed as covering all the methods of compliance verification set out in Article 6(1a)(a), (b) and (c) of that Directive.
(4) Physical sampling of marine fuel being used for the purpose of verifying compliance should be carried out either through obtaining and analysing a fuel spot sample from the ship's fuel service system, or by analysing the relevant sealed bunker samples on board.
(5) The frequency of sampling should be determined on the basis of the number of individual ships calling in a Member State, the verification of ship documentation, the use of alternative targeting technologies to ensure a fair share of burden among Member States and cost-effectiveness as well as specific alerts about individual ships.
(6) The sampling of marine fuels while being delivered to ships should be targeted on marine fuel suppliers which have been repeatedly found not to comply with the specification stated on the bunker delivery note, taking into account the volume of marine fuels marketed by the supplier.
(7) In order to implement Directive 1999/32/EC in a cost-effective manner, Member States should be encouraged to comply with the sampling frequency by selecting ships for fuel compliance verification on the basis of national risk-based targeting mechanisms or the use of innovative compliance verification technologies, and to share the collected information with other Members States.
(8) A dedicated Union information system, developed and operated by the European Maritime Safety Agency, available to Member States from 1 January 2015, is to serve as a platform to record and exchange information on the results of individual compliance verifications under Directive 1999/32/EC. Member States should be encouraged to use the system, that can significantly contribute towards rationalising and optimising the assessment of the compliance with the requirements of that Directive.
(9) In order not to impose a disproportionate administrative burden on Member States without a coast line, on ships flying their flag or on their marine fuel suppliers, certain provisions should not apply to those Member States.
(10) Reporting should take into account the best use of all available and state-of-the-art technologies so that the administrative burden is kept to a minimum, while leaving flexibility to those Member States which might prefer to report in a more traditional way. Therefore, Member States have the possibility to use the Union information system to fulfil the relevant annual reporting obligations under Directive 1999/32/EC.
(11) Not earlier than 1 January 2016, and subject to the availability of common shared data regarding sulphur compliance verifications and sampling, Member States may use the risk-based targeting mechanism integrated into the Union information system to prioritise ship fuel verification in a cost-effective manner.
(12) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established in accordance with Article 9(1) of Directive 1999/32/EC,