1、 IMO COMPENDIUM ON FACILITATION AND ELECTRONIC BUSINESS FAL.S/Circ. I5 (I 9 February 2001) International Maritime Organization London, 2001 Published in 2001 by the INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR Printed in the United Kingdom by Intype London Ltd 2 4 6 8 10 9
2、 7 5 3 1 ISBN 92-801 -5 1 12-6 I IMOPUBLICATION 1 Sales number: IMO-360E Copyright O IMO 2001 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may, for sales purposes, be produced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mech
3、anical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the International Maritime Organization. Foreword The IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business was approved by the International Maritime Organizations Facilitation Com- mittee at its 28th session (30 October t
4、o 3 November 2000) and was then circulated to IMOS Member States as FALS/Circ. 15 (19 February 2001). . 111 Contents 1 Information flows 2 Documentary requirements 3 Electronic business 4 Electronic data-interchange techniques and the FAL Convention Recommendation on FAL forms in electronic format G
5、eneral FAL Form 1 - General Declaration . FAL Form 2 - Cargo Declaration FAL Form 3 - Ships Stores Declaration . FAL Form 4 - Crews Effects Declaration FAL Form 5 - Crew List . FAL Form 6 - Passenger List FAL Form 6 - Dangerous Goods Manifest . 1 3 4 7 9 10 17 23 29 31 34 37 Annex 1 . Definitions .
6、47 V IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business 1 Information flows 1.1 Formalities, procedures and paperwork in international trade and transport are generated by the need for both governments and the maritime industry to monitor and control the movement of goods and the transfer of ser
7、vices and by the necessity of safeguarding every party?s legitimate interests. Closely related to this are the diverse requirements for information concerning cargo and goods by all involved parties in the value chain. Over the years, facilitation efforts conducted by IMO and international or nation
8、al bodies in various countries or sectors have introduced improvements in the information flows, by analysing the processes, simplifjmg the requirements, harmonizing procedures and documentation, standardizing practices and introducing agreed codes for the representation of information elements. How
9、ever, quite a number of countries still maintain requirements which run contrary to these facilitation efforts, because of historical precedents, commercial inertia, difficulty in adjusting the methods of their control bodies or ignorance of solutions that have been developed elsewhere. 1.2 The proc
10、esses and systems developed to link ships, carriers, port authorities, customs, terminals, consignees and other parties in the chain are constantly being adapted to meet the changmg needs. This is in particular associated with the speed of modem transport, the use of containers and modem equipment b
11、ut also to take advantage of the possibilities that information and communication technology offer to im- prove information processing and transmission. 1.3 Today information flows are at a point midway between signed and authorized paper documents, still often painfully filled in by hand, and the c
12、omputerized handling of information. Most documents produced by computers are still sent manually to the other involved party (and often re- entered manually into another computer). But the world of Internet, e-mail or automatic data transmission where data is sent from computer to computer with min
13、imal human intervention is rapidly developing. 1.4 The timely arrival of information is a vital component in intema- tional transport. However, it still happens too frequently that the goods arrive at the destination before the necessary essential information is available to enable the respective op
14、erators to perform their function. Delays in information production and transfer can be reduced if agreement is reached to make the maximum use of modem information and 1 IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business communication technology - e.g., the use of computers to prepare the requi
15、red documents, sending copies over the Internet, by e-mail or through electronic data interchange (EDI) - and whenever this is deemed impossible the use of fax and standard aligned documents can provide a solution for simplifying and expediting document handling. However, more needs to be done to fa
16、cilitate the information flows e., how the data are collected, transferred and dealt with). While part of the answer may lie in the simplification of the official and commercial procedures themselves, there should in addition be some systematic way of handling information relevant to the technology
17、available. The advent of electronic trade tools like Internet and the worldwide web and the availability of cheap and reliable computers even in the least advanced countries do offer huge opportunities. 1.5 The problems created by maritime transport documents and procedures fall into two categories:
18、 the supply of data and the complexity of some of the procedures. 1.6 As stated above, goods often arrive before the information which should precede them and which is essential if they are to be dealt with expeditiously. Some companies take expensive solutions (e.g., the use of courier services) to
19、 avoid delays due to missing documents at critical points in the total transport chain. Due to the complexity of some of the procedures, efficiency is lost if steps are not taken to minimize the amount of information required - for instance for cargo in transit. More generally, procedural requiremen
20、ts should be re- examined, manual systems tidied up and processes redefined before information technology can be safely, systematically and economically applied. 1.7 In theory, there should be nothing inherently too complicated in the systems and procedures for the information to be exchanged in a s
21、imple and coherent manner. But apart fiom the official requirements caused by the protection of national interests, difficulties arise in part from the sheer scale of the operations and in part from the vast number of people, interests, nations and languages involved. What may appear as a facilitati
22、on solution in one part of the world can, and often does, create difficulties in another. To take an example, quarantine measures and the information needed for this purpose are for obvious reasons entirely different in Australia than they are in Europe or in the USA. 1.8 Carriers and other parties
23、involved in the transport chain want to be able to receive and deliver the goods on behalf of their customers with the minimum of complication. They also seek to fulfil this function in ways and under conditions conforming as closely as possible to their own require- ments for the effective operatio
24、n of their transport and cargo handling/ equipment resources. 2 IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business 1.9 The banks want to finance and facilitate payment for their customers transactions, taking prudent precautions against loss or mis- understanding. In this the need for the prompt
25、 presentation of documents which comply with the terms of the instructions issued is obvious. Any variation in the respective documentation, particularly when payment is made in the framework of a Documentary Credit, will result in delays for correction or verification. 1.1 O As mentioned above, the
26、 requirements of both governments and commercial operators to monitor and control the movement of goods and payment thereof drive the procedures and paperwork generated in inter- national trade. The commercial parties, to meet their own needs, devise commercial requirements, whilst official requirem
27、ents are enforced and controlled by governments and have diverse aims, such as fiscal, protective, trade control and health requirements. The facilitation and simplification of procedures and processes may often not be the primary purpose of all the involved parties so the possibility of change can
28、be limited or at best be very slow. 1.1 1 Those asking for and those providing information each have certain responsibilities. The essence of the technical task is to move minimum information with maximum efficiency. The criterion should be the minimum information necessary to service the process an
29、d not the minimum that people would like to obtain for other purposes. This puts a special responsibility on those interests, especially governments, governmental agencies and other involved parties, which are in a position to enforce their data requirements. 1.12 Regardless of the end use of the da
30、ta, the timely arrival of information, certainly before the arrival of the cargo, is a vital component in international transport. As world distances “shrink” and travel times are reduced, it is essential that information is transmitted using the quickest, most effective method available to the part
31、ies involved. If it amves after the cargo, the best information in the world will still cause acute problems, especially in the port community. Whilst it is appreciated that the technology available in different parts of the world may differ, the use of modem technology should be encouraged, and sui
32、table conditions for such use (including the necessary legal or regulatory framework) should be established in the countries concerned. 2 Documentary requirements 2.1 One of the arguments commonly stated against the paperwork and procedures in maritime transport is that they may give rise to avoidab
33、le costs - e.g., those concerning duplication and reproduction of data - a problem which is greatly accentuated when documents contain errors or are not in line with other information. 3 IMO Cornoendiurn on Facilitation and Electronic Business 2.2 Given that massive information is required in intern
34、ational maritime transport, which can result in a mass of paperwork, there are attractions in any method simpliing the production of the numbers and copies of documents. Many of the difficulties associated with information flows can be eliminated by the use of the standardized documentation system w
35、hich the FAL Convention provides through the FAL forms - i.e., the document layout and information content in compliance with the Convention. 2.3 Although the range of documents aligned to the FAL forms is now fairly extensive, many governments still do not avail themselves of this facility. The ben
36、efits that could be derived from using the aligned FAL documents should be clear in that the respective formalities, documentary requirements and procedures are simplified and minimized. 2.4 In considering reforms in documentation and procedures, commercial interests will be much influenced by likel
37、y effective reductions in the overall cost of financing, handling and moving goods from exporter to importer, seller to buyer. It should be realized in this respect that the direct costs of documents and procedures are only one part of the story. Indirect costs, such as fines, demurrage and loss of
38、business because of inadequate documentation, can be far more significant and are often difficult if not impossible to quantify. Documentation and procedural costs in a particular transaction may be minimal yet any one of the many minor errors, which are endemic throughout present systems, may resul
39、t, for example, in demurrage costs of thousands of dollars. 2.5 In this context, those asking for information - e.g., Customs, port authorities, Immigration, etc. - should ask for the minimum of information at the best possible time and, if asking others to complete their documents (e.g., goods decl
40、arations), provide these in a standard format. Those providing information have a responsibility to provide accurate data at the right time n the agreed format. When these conditions are fulfilled, each party- both the provider and receiver of information - can operate efficient documentation system
41、s and carry out their own processes in the minimum time. 3 Electronic business 3.1 Electronic business (doing business transactions electronically) includes the sharing of unstructured or structured business information by any electronic means among carriers, forwarding companies, governmental bodie
42、s, terminals, service providers and other parties in order to conduct and execute business transactions and administrative or other activities. It is a development of the most rapid advancing technology in present times, namely information and communication technology (ICT). This technology has made
43、 it possible to use ED1 together with Internet solutions for data to be exchanged between business applications with minimal human intervention. ICT revolutionizes business communications by removing a 4 IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business complete layer in business practices - th
44、e use and processing of paper documents. The rationalization of data flows within governments and companies enhances the integration of business functions and hence facilitates the decision-making process. In addition, it enables Customs to forge closer and more effective risk-assessment and control
45、 measures. 3.2 ED1 stands for the transfer of structured data by agreed standards from computer application to computer application through electronic means. ED1 is not a new concept or a new practice. Various industries, governments and financial institutes use it to exchange high-volume and changi
46、ng information such as purchase orders, container stowage and financial data. 3.3 Paperless trading is growing fast in many countries, in particular because Internet technologies do make it possible to exchange information in an easy way world-wide, introducing other concepts such as “just in time”
47、and consolidation of consignments. This usually means more and other maybe smaller shipments with very tight delivery schedules that paper documents cannot cope with. ED1 and electronic business should be seen as a natural evolution in the international trade cycle. Indeed, one of the principal reas
48、ons for starting to use ED1 is the mountain of paper documents produced, moved, handled, corrected, transcribed and copied for normal business and administrative transactions. ED1 and in general electronic business has none of the disadvantages of paper documents and brings substantial benefits and
49、savings to companies which implement it. Accuracy (data are received directly from computer files and are not re-entered manually), speed and savings (it saves on the cost ofmailing, copying, filing, distributing and capturing data) are some of the advantages. 3.4 ED1 and electronic business as a whole cannot function without standards. Various ED1 standards have been developed to meet sectoral and national requirements for speedy and successful implementation within closed groups, but implementation across national and sectorai boundaries is diff
