FAL CONVENTION

Asst.Prof. Dr.Ender Asyal

Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, 1965

Adoption: 9 April 1965 Entry into force: 5 March 1967

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, large numbers of documents are required by ----customs, ----immigration, ---- health and ---- other public authorities pertaining to ----a ship, ----its crew and passengers, ----baggage, ---cargo and
----mail.
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This is partly because of the international nature of shipping: countries developed customs, immigration and other standards independently of each other and a ship visiting several countries during the course of a voyage could expect to be presented with numerous forms to fill in, often asking for exactly the same information but in a slightly different way.
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By the early 1960s the maritime nations had decided that the situation could not be allowed to deteriorate further. International action was called for and to achieve it Governments turned to IMO, which had held its first meeting in 1959.

FAL convention - objectives

The Convention's main objectives are: 1-to prevent unnecessary delays in maritime traffic, 2-to aid co-operation between Governments, and 3-to secure the highest practicable degree of uniformity in formalities and other procedures.

Standards and recommended practices

In its Annex, the Convention contains "Standards" and "Recommended Practices" on formalities, documentary requirements and procedures which should be applied on arrival, stay and departure to the ship itself, and to its crew, passengers, baggage and cargo.

Standards: internationally-agreed measures which are "necessary and practicable in order to facilitate international maritime traffic" recommended practices as measures the application of which is "desirable".

The Convention provides that any Contracting Government which finds it impracticable to comply with any international standard, or deems it necessary to adopt differing regulations, must inform the Secretary-General of IMO of the "differences" between its own practices and the standards in question. The same procedure applies to new or amended standards.
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Definitions
Cargo. Any goods, wares, merchandise, and articles of every kind whatsoever carried on a ship, other than mail, ship's stores, ship's spare parts, ship's equipment, crew's effects and passengers' accompanied baggage. Crew's effects. Clothing, items in everyday use and any other articles, which may include currency, belonging to the crew and carried on the ship.
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Crew member. 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.

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Standard. Public authorities shall not require for their retention, on arrival or departure of ships to which the Convention applies, any documents other than those covered by the present section.

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The documents in question are: - General Declaration - Cargo Declaration - Ship's Stores Declaration - Crew's Effects Declaration - Crew List - Passenger List - The document required under the Universal Postal Convention for mail - Maritime Declaration of Health.
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FAL Certificates
All ships are required to carry certificates that establish their seaworthiness, type of ship, competency of seafarers and so on. These certificates are provided by the flag State of the ship and may be inspected by port State control officers. Certificates to be carried on board ships are listed in FAL/Circ.90/MEPC/Circ.368 /MSC/Circ.946. They include (some dependent on type of ship):
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International Tonnage Certificate; International Load Line Certificate; Intact stability booklet; Damage control booklets; Minimum safe manning document; Certificates for masters, officers or ratings; International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate;

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Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan; Garbage Management Plan; Garbage Record Book; Cargo Securing Manual; Document of Compliance and Safety Management Certificate (ISM Code).

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IMO is promoting the global use of electronic data interchange (EDI) to relay these forms between port and ship.

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IMO FAL FORM I

IMO GENERAL DECLARATION

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IMO FAL FORM III

SHIPS STORE DECLARATION

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IMO IMO CREW EFFECT DECLARATION FAL FORM IV

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IMO FAL FORM V

IMO CREW LIST

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IMO FAL FORM VI

IMO PASSENGER LIST

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