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(1),
Having regard to the opinion of
the Economic and Social Committee(2),
Having consulted the
Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3),
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 Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic adopted by the
International Conference on Facilitation of Maritime Travel and Transport on 9 April
1965, as 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 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 "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.
(8)
However, 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 facilitation practices already exist. Consequently, obligatory
recognition of those forms should not be introduced.
(9) Maritime transport is a global activity
and the introduction of the IMO FAL forms in the Community could pave the way towards
their intensified application around the world.
(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 adopt measures in accordance with
the principle of subsidiarity as 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 necessary for the
implementation of this Directive should be adopted 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(4),
(1) OJ C 180 E, 26.6.2001, p. 85.
(2) OJ C 221, 7.8.2001,
p. 149.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 October
2001 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 7 December
2002.
(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. 01 Article Purpose
The purpose of this Directive is to facilitate maritime transport by
providing for standardisation of reporting formalities.
02 Article Scope
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.
03 Article Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall
apply:
(a) "IMO FAL Convention" means the
International Maritime Organisation's Convention on Facilitation of International
Maritime Traffic adopted by the International Conference on Facilitation of Maritime
Travel and Transport on 9 April 1965;
(b) "IMO
FAL forms" means A4 size standardised IMO model facilitation forms provided for under
the IMO FAL Convention;
(c) "reporting
formality" means the information that, when required by a Member State, must be provided
for administrative 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;
(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.
04 Article Acceptance of forms
Member States shall accept that the reporting formalities referred
to in Article 2 are satisfied when the information submitted is in accordance with:
(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.
05 Article Amendment procedure
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 procedure
referred to in Article 6(2), in so far as such amendments do not broaden the scope of
this Directive.
06 Article Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the
committee set up pursuant to Article 12(1) of Council Directive 93/75/EEC(5).
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 laid down in Article 5(6) of
Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of
procedure.
(5) 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). 07 Article Implementation
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws,
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not
later than 9 September 2003. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a
reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of
their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by
Member States.
2. Member States shall
communicate to the Commission the text of the provisions of national law which they
adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
08 Article Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication
in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
09 Article Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 18 February 2002.
For the
European Parliament
The President
P. Cox
For the Council
The
President
J. Piqué i Camps
Annex I
PART A
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
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 the authorities of a Member
State relating to a 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 the
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 or 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.
PART B
Signatories
1. IMO FAL form 1, general declaration
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.
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 mm × 297 mm) with
portrait orientation. At least one third 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 by electronic 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 international standards, provided it is in
legible and understandable form and contains the required information.
Member States may subsequently process the acquired data in any
format they consider appropriate.