Cyprus Ministry of Shipping has recently issued a circular informing that it now accepts statutory certificates issued to Cyprus-flagged vessels by Recognized Organizations in electronic form, provided that they are in line with the IMO requirements as presented in its publication FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev.2 (Guidelines for the use of electronic certificates).
These guidelines were approved at IMO’s 40th session of the Facilitation Committee, in April 2016, to reduce the administrative burden on Administrations, Port State control officials, ships’ crews and other stakeholders caused, amongst other reasons, by reliance on traditional paper certificates.
According to IMO’s circular, administrations that use electronic certificates should ensure that these certificates have the following features:
- validity and consistency with the format and content required by the relevant international convention or instrument, as applicable;
- protected from edits, modifications or revisions other than those authorized by the issuer or the Administration;
- a unique tracking number used for verification; and
- a printable and visible symbol that confirms the source of issuance.
The DMS encourages all Recognised Organizations acting on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus to develop the necessary capabilities to enable the issuance of electronic statutory certificates, in order to reduce administrative requirements and enhance efficiency and security.
However, the ministry adds, the current practice of issuing paper certificates is still accepted.
