The Facilitation Convention was amended to improve digitization in shipping. The IMO’s Facilitation Committee has approved revisions to the Facilitation (FAL) Convention that will make the use of a single point of contact for data exchange essential in ports worldwide, marking a significant step forward in the acceleration of or improve digitization in shipping.
Other amendments include lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as new and updated Recommended Practices for preventing corruption and illegal activities in the marine industry.
The amendments adopted during the Facilitation Committee (FAL 46) session, which took place from May 9 to 13, are set to take effect on January 1, 2024.
The 1965 Facilitation Convention comprises standards, suggested practices, and guidelines for reducing formalities, paperwork requirements, and processes for ships’ arrival, stay, and departure. The Convention has been regularly revised, integrating digitization and procedural automation.
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Mandatory Single Window to improve digitalization in shipping
The changes bring the provisions of the FAL Convention on required electronic data sharing in ports for ship clearance up to date. The revisions to the Convention’s appendix will make it necessary for public authorities to build, manage, and operate single window systems for the electronic exchange of information required on ships’ arrival, stay, and departure from ports. Furthermore, public bodies will have to integrate or coordinate the electronic transfer of data to guarantee that information is submitted or supplied just once and utilized to the greatest degree feasible.
The Committee accepted associated recommendations on authentication, integrity, and secrecy of information exchanges via marine single windows and related services, as well as amended criteria for establishing a maritime single window.
