IMO looking for a pilot port for digital ship clearance project
The United Nations agency managing international maritime policy released a circular asking for pilot port proposals.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
LONDON — The International Maritime Organization (IMO) issued a new circular asking for expressions of interest from countries with medium-sized ports to potentially engage and establish a pilot digital system for electronic exchange for ship clearance.
“IMO, in partnership with Singapore, is commencing the implementation of a project entitled “Single Window for Facilitation of Trade (SWiFT) Project”…aiming to assist developing countries in complying with their obligations under the Facilitation (FAL) Convention to establish systems for the electronic exchange of information in ports for ship clearance,” notes Circular Letter No. 4391.
Secretary-General Kitack Lim also pointed in a recent statement that the efforts to advocate for a program like SWiFT is crucial.
“We want to support countries in implementing the FAL Convention requirements for electronic data exchange, by supporting a pilot project which will show the way and result in know-how which can then be shared with others,” the secretary-general said.
The IMO adds that its regulations outlined in the Facilitation Convention require the efficient clearance of ships through unified electronic data exchange. The development of this project emulates several models implemented in highly-developed Asia and Europe.
