At the meeting of the Government of Turkmenistan, held on January 26, 2024, the issue of Turkmenistan's accession to the Convention on the Facilitation of International Maritime Navigation (FAL), which was adopted in 1965 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was considered.
As you know, work is underway to improve and regulate the procedures for the registration of ships and cargoes by the "Turkmendenizderiayelary" agency, which arrive at the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port. On August 26, 1993, Turkmenistan was accepted as a member of the IMO and has joined several conventions of this organization to date. IMO is an international intergovernmental organization, which is a specialized agency of the UN and is engaged in the organization of ensuring safety at sea and environmental protection, as well as solving a number of issues related to international shipping.
So far, 129 countries have joined the FAL Convention. The Convention obliges the Parties to cooperate in ensuring complete uniformity of formalities and requirements for documents and procedures in all fields where such uniformity will facilitate and improve international maritime navigation, and to minimize any changes in formalities, requirements for documents and procedures. The provisions of the Convention require the creation, implementation and use of a "single window" system for the purpose of submitting information in electronic form related to the arrival and departure of sea vessels from the ports of the member countries of the convention.
At the same time, in order to submit information and documents once, as well as their possible reuse, state bodies that supervise ships and cargo should use electronic information systems. The requirement to use a "single window" is a mandatory requirement in all ports from 2024.
The Convention simplifies the formalities and limits the list of documents submitted in advance by cargo carriers, and establishes the list of documents required by state bodies that supervise ships and cargo:
1. General declaration
2. Cargo declaration
3. Declaration of ship supplies
4. Declaration of personal belongings of the ship's crew
5. Judicial role
6. List of passengers
7. Dangerous goods manifest
Turkmenistan's ratification of the FAL Convention and implementation of the following measures will contribute to the development of the national "single window" system at seaport checkpoints:
1. Creation of a "single window" system for submitting information in electronic form, instead of paper, related to the arrival/departure of ships in ports;
2. Use of international terms related to the arrival/departure of ships in ports to standardize electronic messages, develop the necessary formats of information and decisions (for example, ship name, IMO number, captain's name, destination port, container number, etc.);
3. Processing of information in the "single window" system, definition of a complex of information that meets the requirements of supervisory bodies of information related to the arrival/departure of ships in ports;
4. Improvement of methods of state supervision of vehicles, cargo, goods and people at state maritime border checkpoints.
In addition to the above, the ratification of the Convention will contribute to the implementation of the "Concept for the Development of the Digital Economy in Turkmenistan for 2019-2025", as well as ensuring the fulfillment of international requirements and digitalization of checkpoints in seaports.