FAL 46: Single window to become mandatory

The Facilitation Convention was adopted in 1965 and contains standards and recommended practices and rules for simplifying formalities, documentary requirements and procedures on ships’ arrival, stay and departure.

The Convention has been updated continuously, embracing digitalisation and automation for procedures, and the amendments adopted at this session are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2024.

The amendments update the provisions of the FAL Convention on mandatory electronic data exchange in ports for ship clearance. The amendments to the annex of the Convention will make it mandatory for public authorities to establish, maintain and use single window systems for the electronic exchange of information required on arrival, stay and departure of ships in ports. In addition, public authorities will have to combine or coordinate the electronic transmission of the data to ensure that information is submitted or provided only once and re-used to the maximum extent possible.

The Committee also approved related guidelines on authentication, integrity and confidentiality of information exchanges via maritime single windows and related services, which are aligned with the IMO Compendium, and revised guidelines for setting up a maritime single window.

The Committee invited Member States to participate in the testing of a new GISIS module created to share information on maritime single windows implemented by Member States. The module is designed to facilitate the sharing of best practices and support the IMO Secretariat in monitoring the progress of single window implementation in the maritime environment globally to better target IMO technical assistance.

Other amendments adopted at FAL 46 include lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic and add new and amended Recommended Practices to prevent corruption and illicit activities in the maritime sector.

Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

The updated annex to the FAL Convention includes provisions derived from lessons learned during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contracting Governments and their relevant public authorities are required to allow ships and ports to remain fully operational during a public health emergency of international concern, in order to maintain complete functionality of global supply chains to the greatest extent possible. Public authorities are also required to designate port workers and ships’ crew as key workers (or equivalent), regardless of their nationality or the flag of their ship, when in their territory.

Best practice recommendations aim to prevent obstacles to crew movement for repatriation, crew change and travel, and encourage dissemination of information about public health matters and expected protection measures by ship operators.

The amendments concerning arrival and departure of persons require public authorities to inform passengers about vaccination requirements sufficiently in advance of departure and vaccinators to use the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis in order to assure uniform acceptance.

Tackling maritime corruption

Updates to the FAL Convention take a systemic approach to addressing the issue of corruption associated with the ship-shore interface in ports. Contracting Governments are now required to encourage public authorities to assess the risks of corruption and address them by developing and implementing preventive measures to strengthen integrity, transparency and accountability. Public authorities are required to coordinate efforts to detect, investigate and sanction corruption related to ships’ calls in the port, including through national and international cooperation.

The Committee approved related Guidance to implement and adopt procedures against maritime corruption. The guidance encourages the use of administrative or criminal penalties to prevent corruption, regular updates to existing anti-corruption measures or implementation of new measures, and anti-corruption training for relevant personnel who are actively engaged in ship/shore interface operations. It contains a list of some best practices and procedures against maritime corruption.

Updated definitions

The amendments bring in updated definitions and general provisions for various terms used in the Convention, establishing agreed terminology. This means that all stakeholders, whether at a port, onboard a ship or a third party (such as a public authority, etc.) will now have a clear consensus on the meaning of terms such as ‘actual time of arrival’, ‘estimated time of arrival’, ‘authenticate’, etc.

IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business

The Committee approved an updated version of the IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business (the IMO Compendium). The new version includes the following five new data sets: “Ship reporting systems”; “Ship and company certificates”; “Ship registry and company details”; “Inspections” and “Port State Control inspection history data”.

By harmonising the definitions and formats of the data elements required during a port call and by standardising electronic messages the IMO Compendium facilitates the exchange of information ship to shore and the interoperability of single windows, reducing the administrative burden for ships linked to formalities in ports. The new version of the Compendium is already available in Excel and HTML formats from the IMO website, replacing the current version.

Progress on MASS regulations

The FAL Committee approved the outcome of the regulatory scoping exercise which analysed relevant ship safety treaties under the remit of the Committee to assess how maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) could be regulated. This follows the completion of similar scoping exercises by the Maritime Safety and Legal Committees.

The scoping exercise on the FAL Convention identified gaps in terminology, the role and responsibility of the master and crew, as well as remote operators – which are areas of concern to all three IMO committees (MSC, LEG and FAL) involved.

With regard to the FAL Convention, one of the issues identified was the obligation to search for, identify and manage stowaways, refugees and persons rescued at sea and how this relates to ships with no crew onboard. Any decision to place persons rescued at sea, stowaways and refugees onboard unmanned MASS for transport to a subsequent port would be impacted by the absence of seafarers or basic accommodation facilities. Furthermore, in instances where a stowaway declares themselves as a refugee, consideration must be given to the process for ensuring the confidentiality of information shared.

The Committee concurred with the establishment of an MSC-LEG-FAL Joint Working Group on MASS to provide advice on and consider ways to address common issues identified by the three committees. The group is expected to meet in September, subject to endorsement by the IMO Council.

MSC 105 in April 2022 already commenced work on the development of a goal-based instrument in the form of a non-mandatory Code to regulate the operation of MASS.

The Committee included an output on “Measures to address Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) in the instruments under the purview of the Facilitation Committee” in its 2022‑2023 biennial agenda and the provisional agenda for FAL 47.