The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced the launch of the Panama Maritime Single Window System (VUMPA), which aims to facilitate international maritime transport, through simplification and harmonization of the processes, in compliance with FAL Convention.
Through this project, the parties aim to ease the processes of reception and departure of ships and exchange of electronic information.
Namely, every ship must declare the required information electronically through the VUMPA system, so that all government institutions carry out the risk assessment, prior to the arrival of the vessel, and that the first inspection of an international ship upon arrival is carried out by a single inspector of the Republic of Panama.
The FAL 65 Agreement establishes that as of April 8, 2019, Public Authorities should make use of communication technologies and establish electronic information exchange systems with the objective of transmitting information related to maritime transport. In this sense, the VUMPA implementation aims to strengthen Panama’s compliance with International Maritime Standards and Conventions.
VUMPA will be available to its users from September 20, 2017 and will be in operation for those ships that arrive to our country from September 24, 2017.
