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The Philippine Ports Authority is fast tracking moves to ratify the International Maritime Organization Facilitation of the International Maritime Traffic Convention of 1965
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The ratification is needed to implement the Maritime Single Window
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Transport undersecretary for maritime Elmer Francisco Sarmiento earlier said the target is to secure concurrence from remaining relevant agencies by yearend
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is fast tracking moves to ratify the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Facilitation of the International Maritime Traffic Convention of 1965 (FAL Convention).
PPA is coordinating with concerned government agencies to ratify the Convention, which is necessary for the implementation of the Maritime Single Window.
“For now we’re doing the paper works… (to) hopefully… fast track transmittal of the official document for the approval of the President and endorsement to Senate,” PPA assistant general manager for finance and administrator Elmer Nonnatus Cadano said in a recent media briefing.
Transport undersecretary for maritime Elmer Francisco Sarmiento earlier said the target is to secure by yearend concurrence from remaining relevant agencies, such as the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Bureau of Immigration.
The FAL Convention was adopted by the International Conference on Facilitation of Maritime Travel and Transport on April 9, 1965 and went into force on March 5, 1967. The convention, which was signed by the Philippines, strives to facilitate maritime transport by reducing paperwork and simplifying formalities, documentary requirements, and procedures associated with the arrival, stay, and departure of ships engaged in international voyages.
An amendment to provisions of the Convention mandates all IMO members to use a single, centralized digital platform or MSW to collect and exchange information with ships when they call at ports. This policy, which took effect on January 1, 2024, streamlines procedures to clear the arrival, stay and departure of ships and greatly enhance the efficiency of shipping worldwide.
READ: IMO adopts mandatory electronic exchange of shipping information
The PPA led the crafting of ratification papers for the Convention in 1996 with the Philippine Coast Guard, Maritime Industry Authority, and Department of Foreign Affairs, among others, but the papers have not been acted on by Congress for more than 20 years.
PPA in 2016 announced it was reigniting plans to push for the ratification of the Convention.
READ: PH ports agency to revive shelved efforts to ratify FAL Convention
In 2021, Executive Order No. 159 was signed with the aim of adopting an integrated approach in the ratification and accession to IMO Conventions and Instruments. It reconstitutes the Inter-agency Coordinating Committee on the Ratification and Implementation of Maritime Conventions and renames it the Inter-agency Coordinating Committee to Facilitate the Ratification and Accession to and Implementation of Maritime Conventions, to which the PPA is a member.
Asked if the Convention can be ratified by the current Congress, Cadano said “hopefully.”
“We believe that it will really help facilitate trade,” Cadano said.
Aside from pushing for the Convention’s ratification, Cadano said PPA has also conducted an online briefing with Singapore, which has already been implementing their MSW. He said PPA’s information and communication technology department is also studying the preliminary preparations for the MSW. – Roumina Pablo
