21 Maritime safety
| (25187)
16218/03
COM(03) 767
| Draft Regulation on implementation of the International Safety Management Code (ISM Code) within the Community
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| Legal base | Article 80(2) EC; co-decision; QMV
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| Department | Transport |
| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 5 October 2004
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 42-ix (2003-04), para 11(4 February 2004)
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| To be discussed in Council | Not known
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
21.1 The International Management Code for the Safe Operations
of Ships and Pollution Prevention (the International Safety Management
(ISM) Code) is intended to provide a blueprint for the management
and operation of shipping fleets and to promote a widespread safety
culture and environmental conscience in shipping. The code is
mandatory on all parties (including all Member States) to the
IMO's Safety of Life at Sea Convention. Since 1 July 2002 the
code has applied to all merchant vessels above 500 gross tonnes
sailing internationally. (From 1 July 1996 the ISM Code has been
applied to roll on-roll off (ro-ro) passenger ferries of Member
States by Council Regulation 3051/95, in anticipation of the application
— in 2002 — of the ISM Code to ro-ro passenger ferries
worldwide.) This draft Regulation would apply Community legislation
on the ISM Code to all merchant vessels engaged on international
or domestic voyages (and apparently including vessels under 500
gross tonnes).
21.2 Although the Commission consulted the European Community
Shipowners' Association, the European Transport Workers' Federation
and the International Association of Classification Societies
in presenting the proposed Regulation it gave no indication of
their views. Nor did it undertake a Regulatory Impact Assessment
of the proposal.
21.3 When we considered the document in February
2004 we said that incorporation of the ISM Code, as applied to
international maritime traffic, seemed unexceptionable but that
application of the Code to domestic maritime traffic raised issues
of proportionality, particularly if vessels below 500 gross tonnes
were to be covered. We were particularly concerned that the Commission
had produced no impact assessment of this aspect of its proposal.
We asked the Government whether the proposal was meant to cover
vessels of less than 500 gross tonnes and, if so, its view on
this; for the view of UK domestic shipping interests on the cost
implications; and about what success the Government has had in
pressing the Commission for an impact assessment for the proposal.
The Minister's letter
21.4 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department of Transport (Mr David Jamieson) says the draft Regulation
is still being negotiated in a Council Working Group. But he reports
significant improvements already secured:
- Member States may now disapply
the most onerous requirements of the Code for domestic shipping,
if there are measures to secure objectives equivalent to those
of the Code's. The UK already has a domestic version of the Code,
so there will be no new burdens on the domestic shipping industry;
- the scope of the Regulation would now exclude
all cargo ships of less than 500 gross tonnes, aligning the measure
with the scope of the international Code; and
- a possible difficulty in relation to geographical
restrictions on a Member State's ability to issue Documents of
Compliance under the Code has been resolved.
21.5 The Minister tells us that in view of these
developments the Government has not needed to seek the views of
the UK domestic shipping industry on cost implications. He also
says that sustained pressure on the Commission to produce an impact
assessment for the draft Regulation was not successful. But the
Government no longer regards this as a major concern since it
has secured the necessary concessions for domestic shipping and
international shipping already has to comply with the Code, so
the proposed Regulation would not impose new burdens on international
shipping.
Conclusion
21.6 We are pleased to see the improvements secured
in the draft Regulation and we are now content to clear the document.
21.7 But, whilst we understand why the Government
is now less concerned about the lack of an impact assessment from
the Commission for this proposal, we urge it to continue, as a
matter of principle important to good governance, to harry the
Commission for impact assessments on all legislative proposals.
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