8 Port state control
| (27238)
5632/06
COM(05) 588
| Draft Directive on port state control (Recast)
|
| Legal base | Article 80(2) EC; co-decision; QMV
|
| Document originated | 23 November 2005
|
| Deposited in Parliament | 30 January 2006
|
| Department | Transport |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 8 February 2006
|
| Previous Committee Report | None
|
| To be discussed in Council | June 2006
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information requested
|
Background
8.1 Port state control is a system of inspections, carried out
on foreign-flag ships visiting a country's ports, to check that
they comply with international standards for safety, pollution
prevention and shipboard living and working conditions. A ship
found to be unsafe will be detained in port until such time as
necessary remedial work has been carried out or, exceptionally,
allowed a single voyage to a port of repair.
8.2 In the Community port state control is covered
by Directive 95/21/EC and its successive amendments and many maritime
Member States, including the UK, are parties to the Paris Memorandum
of Understanding on Port State Control, the geographical coverage
of which is the waters of the European coastal states and of the
North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe.[27]
The document
8.3 The Commission proposes a recast Directive to:
- consolidate Directive 95/21/EC
and successive amending Directives into a single text, clarifying
the provisions in line with the policy of better law-making;
- amend the existing legislation so as to update,
complement and reinforce it. These amendments would make for more
efficient and effective use of port state control inspection resources,
reinforce provisions on the role of pilots in detecting faults
and strengthen rules concerning the banning of substandard ships
from European ports; and
- add a number of new provisions on matters which
are not covered by port state control, for instance maritime safety,
to take account of recent developments in international and Community
law.
8.4 The proposal is part of what the Commission refers
to as the "Third Maritime Safety Package". This comprises
seven discrete measures which are being taken forward separately,
rather than as a package, by the Council. At the end of the UK
Presidency work had started on two of the seven measures, of which
this draft Directive is one,[28]
and work is continuing under the current Austrian Presidency.
The Government's view
8.5 The Minister of State, Department of Transport
(Dr Stephen Ladyman) says that the Government welcomes simplification
of the existing legislation, which accords with its better regulation
principles.
8.6 Additionally the Minister tells us that:
- the Paris MoU is in the process
of updating its inspection regime, specifically the criteria it
uses to prioritise vessels for inspection. It is proposed that
key elements of this new inspection regime, to be approved in
May 2006, be incorporated into the proposed Directive. The Government
strongly supports such harmonisation of the proposed Directive
with the Paris MoU regime;
- the draft Directive meets expectations of the
Council and the European Parliament about reinforcement of port
state control, particularly for ships presenting the greatest
risks to life and the marine environment;
- the current Directive includes a purely quantitative
requirement for Community port states to inspect 25% of foreign
flag ships calling at their ports. This quantitative approach
has created a number of problems and the Government welcomes an
amendment in the proposed Directive that would put the emphasis
on more precise targeting of ships to make for more effective
use of limited port state control resources and to spare compliant
owners the burden of frequent inspection. The prospect of improved
targeting has been welcomed by reputable industry organisations;
- the draft Directive would extend the present
provisions (access refusal measures), allowing certain vessels
subject to multiple detentions to be banned from Community ports,
to types of ships not presently covered, in particular to general
cargo ships (the vessels most likely to be detained in European
ports) and to those flying flags other than those on the Paris
MoU black list of seriously under-performing flags. The proposal
would establish a minimum banning period and would allow for repeat
offenders to be penalised more severely, with the possibility
of permanent exclusion from Community ports. The Government supports
strengthened access refusal measures, which should discourage
manifestly substandard ships posing a risk to seafarers' safety,
other vessels and the marine environment from trading to Community
ports;
- the draft Directive would reinforce obligations
that require ships' pilots to report defects they observe on board
the vessels they are piloting. The Government doubts the amendments
concerning reporting requirements would in fact add value;
- the amendments proposed in the draft Directive
should be neutral in terms of resources allocated by Member States
to carrying out port state control inspections. The main burden
of the revised inspection regime will fall on owners and operators
of substandard ships;
- a Regulatory Impact Assessment is not relevant
because the proposed amendments have no financial implications
for the UK. There would not be additional financial burdens on
the industry — the draft Directive would fine-tune the existing
port state control targeting regime, concentrating enforcement
effort more effectively on higher risk vessels. High risk vessels
would be subject to more frequent inspection, lower risk vessels
to less frequent inspection; and
- during the UK Presidency the Government consulted
the main international industry organisations, which are broadly
supportive of the measure. It will be consulting UK shipping and
ports interests as the proposed measure develops.
Conclusion
8.7 This document is a welcome instance of attempts
to simplify and improve Community legislation in the important
area of maritime regulation. But before considering it further
we should like to hear both about the changes in the existing
legislation (rather than consolidation) which emerge during negotiation
of the draft Directive and about the views of the UK interests
the Government is consulting.
8.8 Meanwhile we do not clear the document.
27 The current member states of the Paris MoU region
are Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden and the UK. Back
28
The other is a draft Directive related to maritime safety: see
(27218) 5171/06: HC 34-xviii (2005-06), para 8 (8 February 2006). Back
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