| Facilitation exercises in Papua New Guinea |
For countries dependent on maritime trade, effective clearance processes for the arrival and departure of ships are highly important. At a national seminar on facilitation of international maritime traffic in Papua New Guinea (12-14 October), participants from maritime, customs and immigration authorities, alongside industry representatives, took part in exercises to simulate a national maritime facilitation committee – recommended under IMO’s Facilitation (FAL) Convention to encourage the adoption and implementation of facilitation measures across government departments and other entities such as port authorities and ship owners.
The seminar highlighted the importance of ratifying the FAL Convention and effectively implementing its standards and recommendations. Participants were also updated on IMO’s ‘Maritime Single Window’ project and on proposed amendments to the FAL Convention, set to be adopted in April 2016. These will include a mandatory requirement for electronic information exchange and a recommendation to use the ‘single window’ concept, to enable all the information required by public authorities in connection with the arrival, stay and departure of ships, persons and cargo, to be submitted without duplication.
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