The Facilitation Committee meets this week at IMO, with a busy agenda which includes new guidance to address corruption and illicit wildlife trade, as well as other important topics.
In his opening remarks, IMO Secretary General, Kitack Lim, said that “there have now been more than two years of extraordinary sacrifices and challenges for the entire world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
"The maritime sector and Seafarers in particular, continue to be affected. The Secretariat continues to work with all relevant parties to address the associated challenges including new high-level initiatives within the UN to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s transport workers and the global supply chain."
The Committee is expected to adopt a revised version of the FAL Convention, following the approval of the amendments at the previous session. This is expected to be a significant step towards highlighting the importance of facilitation and to accelerate digitalization in the maritime sector.
Another important topic at this session will be the finalization of the new version of the IMO Compendium, including five new data sets. The Compendium is a critical instrument to accelerate digitalization in shipping business and in the ship/port interface, and a matter of great importance which has gained enormously in significance during the pandemic.
In addition to these two pillars, i.e. the FAL Convention and the IMO Compendium, the finalization of some guidelines is expected, such as the ‘guidelines on authentication, integrity and confidentiality of information exchanges via maritime single windows and related services’, the ‘revised guidelines for national maritime transport facilitation committees and programmes’ and the ‘guidance to address maritime corruption’.
Regarding the ongoing work Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships MASS, the outcome of the regulatory scoping exercise and gap analysis of the FAL Convention with respect to MASS will be considered by the Committee with a view to approval.
What is more, the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine is in its third month, with the global maritime community remaining seriously concerned about the safety and welfare of seafarers, the safety of ships and the resulting impact on shipping operations.
"Further to the decisions of the 35th extraordinary session of the Council, the Secretariat has worked tirelessly, with the relevant parties and with other UN organisations to reduce the number of seafarers stranded from 2000 to under 500 currently" IMO Sec-Gen informed.
What is more, IMO actively pursues the transition of the shipping sector into a sustainable greener future, and this attempt is reflected in this year’s World Maritime Theme: “New technologies for greener shipping”.
"The theme will allow for a range of activities to delve into specific topics related to the promotion of innovation and the uptake of new technologies. It will focus on the importance of clean maritime transport and also the need to build back better and greener in a post-pandemic world".
Source: Safety4sea
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