International Maritime Organization’s FAL 47 Committee (13-17 March 2023) approved a revised version of the IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business.
The IMO Compendium is a tool for software developers that design the systems needed to support transmission, receipt, and response via electronic data exchange of information required for the arrival, stay, and departure of the ship, persons, and cargo to a port. By harmonizing the data elements required during a port call and by standardizing electronic messages, the IMO Compendium facilitates the exchange of information from ship to shore and the interoperability of single windows, thereby reducing the administrative burden for ships linked to formalities in ports.
The IMO Compendium consists of an IMO Data Set and IMO Reference Data Model agreed by the main organizations involved in the development of standards for the electronic exchange of information related to the FAL Convention, i.e. WCO, UNECE and ISO.
The revised version includes additional e-business solutions and new data sets, developed during the sixth and seventh meetings of the Experts Group on Data Harmonization (EGDH) which were held in May and October 2022, respectively.
Four new data sets cover the following subjects:
- IMO data set related to Ballast water arrival reporting
- IMO data set related to Waste delivery receipt
- IMO data set related to Verified Gross Mass (VGM)
- IMO data set related to Advance Passenger Information (API)
- Additional data elements for the Just-In-Time arrival sub-model were also developed.
The Committee approved the revised priority list of data sets and the EGDH terms of reference for the next two meetings.
Guidelines for harmonized communication and electronic exchange of operational data for port calls
The Committee approved Guidelines for harmonized communication and electronic exchange of operational data for port calls, providing guidance for the implementation of an electronic and automated exchange of operational data between ship and port. To facilitate a uniform way for implementing, for example, the Just In Time (JIT) arrival from port to port, the guidelines can be used as a port agnostic implementation guide, on the basis of which local processes can be developed. The Guidelines are port and trade agnostic. Benefits of JIT arrival concepts extend to vessel traffic service centres, to ensure safe and efficient traffic flows, and will also assist the port industry to better plan and organize port operations, and eventually to the complete logistic chain.
Regulatory scoping exercise for the use of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS)
The Committee considered the report of the first session of the Joint MSC-LEG-FAL Working Group on MASS (MASS-JWG).
The Committee endorsed and agreed to the holding of a hybrid five-day meeting of the MASS-JWG from 17 to 21 April 2023; that the MASS-JWG could meet before all three Committees had considered its report(s), bearing in mind that the meeting dates of the three Committees, which advanced their work on MASS at different speeds, would have an impact on the work of the Group and the scheduling of its meetings; and authorized the Group to meet twice in each calendar year until decided otherwise by the three Committees, subject to endorsement by C 129 (July 2023).
The Committee noted that seminars related to MASS legal issues and technological advancements were effective means to communicate with academia, regulators and the industry and to enrich IMO’s deliberations.
Following discussion in a working group, the Committee endorsed the roadmap on addressing MASS issues related to the FAL Convention, which would see any necessary FAL Convention amendments developed by 2024 and adopted in 2025.
