7.6.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 155/1

(1)

Action by the Union in the sector of maritime transport should aim to improve maritime safety.

(2)

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) at its 64th session in October 2012 approved amendments to the Condition Assessment Scheme (Resolution MEPC.94(46)), arising from the adoption of the International Code on the Enhanced Programme of Inspections during Surveys of Bulk Carriers and Oil Tankers 2011. Those amendments are expected to be adopted in the 65th session of the MEPC, to be held on 13 to 17 May 2013.

(3)

The IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) meeting at its 91st session approved amendments to the International Safety Management (ISM) Code as well as amendments to Chapter III of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS), the High Speed Craft Codes 1994 and 2000 and the Dynamically Supported Craft Code. Those amendments are expected to be adopted in the 92nd session of the MSC, to be held in June 2013.

(4)

The amendments to the Condition Assessment Scheme (CAS) for single hull oil tankers will modify the CAS to refer to the latest (2011) Enhanced Programme of Inspections during Surveys of Bulk Carriers and Oil Tankers or Enhanced Survey Programme (ESP). Regulation (EU) No 530/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2012 on the accelerated phasing-in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single-hull oil tankers (1) provides for the application of the CAS.

(5)

The amendments to the ISM Code will introduce specific clarifications to that Code in terms of appropriate manning considerations and responsibility for ISM-related delegated tasks as well as the insertion of relevant footnotes. The ISM Code, although set out in an Annex to Regulation (EC) No 336/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 February 2006 on the implementation of the International Safety Management Code within the Community (2), is also defined in that Regulation as being ‘in its up-to-date version’. Regulation (EC) No 336/2006 requires that ships covered by it comply with the requirements of Part A of the ISM Code. Hence the changes to be adopted at the 92th session of the MSC will have a direct legal effect on that Regulation.

(6)

The amendments to Chapter III of the SOLAS Convention with respect to the High Speed Craft Codes 1994 and 2000 as well as to the Dynamically Supported Craft Code, will introduce into Regulation 19 of Chapter III of the SOLAS Convention, into Chapter 18 of the High Speed Craft Codes 1994 and 2000 and into Chapter 17 of the Dynamically Supported Craft Code an obligation for rescue training for those crew members with responsibilities for working in enclosed spaces. Directive 2009/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on safety rules and standards for passenger ships (3) specifically applies the High Speed Craft Codes 1994 and 2000 to domestic high speed passenger craft. For older crafts for which those High Speed Craft Codes do not apply, that Directive applies the previous Dynamically Supported Craft Code.

(7)

The amendments to be adopted at the 65th session of the MEPC and at the 92th session of the MSC can be considered positive developments and therefore should be given the Union’s support.

(8)

The Union is neither a member of the IMO nor a contracting party to the conventions and codes concerned. It is therefore necessary for the Council to authorise the Member States to express the position of the Union in the MEPC and the MSC and express their consent to the bound by these amendments,

7.6.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 155/3

(1)

The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) at its 64th session in October 2012 and the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) at its 91st session in November 2012 approved an IMO Instruments Implementation Code (III Code). The 28th IMO Assembly is expected to adopt that code in December 2013.

(2)

The MEPC at its 64th session and the MSC at its 91st session also approved an IMO Code on Recognised Organisations (RO Code). The MEPC is expected to adopt that code at its 65th session in May 2013 and the MSC at its 92nd session in June 2013.

(3)

The MSC at its 91st session approved amendments to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (‘the Load Lines Convention’); to the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972; and to the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement, 1969 with a view to rendering the III Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme, for consideration and adoption by the 28th IMO Assembly.

(4)

The MEPC at its 64th session approved amendments to the protocols of 1978 and 1997 relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (‘the MARPOL Convention’), with a view to rendering the III Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme. The MEPC is expected to adopt those amendments at its 66th session in 2014.

(5)

The MSC at its 91st session approved amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (‘the SOLAS Convention’) and the 1988 protocol to the SOLAS Convention, as well as to the protocol of 1988 relating to Load Lines Convention, 1966, with a view to rendering the III Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme. At its 92nd session, due to take place in June 2013, the MSC is expected to approve amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (‘the STCW Convention’), with the same purpose. The MSC is expected to adopt those amendments to the SOLAS Convention and to the STCW Convention at its 93rd session in 2014.

(6)

The MEPC at its 64th session approved amendments to the Protocol of 1978 relating to the MARPOL Convention with a view to rendering the RO Code mandatory. The MEPC is expected to adopt those amendments at its 65th session.

(7)

The MSC at its 91st session approved amendments to the SOLAS Convention and to the protocol of 1988 relating to the Load Lines Convention, with a view to rendering the RO Code mandatory. The MSC is expected to adopt those amendments at its 92nd session.

(8)

Once adopted, the amendments to those conventions and protocols will be submitted by the IMO Secretary-General to the respective contracting parties in order for them to express their consent to be bound by those amendments either tacitly or expressly, according to the relevant provisions of each convention or protocol.

(9)

None of the conventions and protocols contain clauses excluding the formulation of reservations as regards amendments.

(10)

The draft III Code is meant to replace IMO Assembly Resolution A.1054(27) which contains the existing Code for the implementation of mandatory IMO instruments, which in turn replaced, after several amendments, IMO Assembly Resolution A.847(20), which the Member States, as regards their responsibilities as flag States, are obliged to apply by virtue of Directive 2009/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for the relevant activities of maritime administrations (1).

(11)

The matter of the RO Code is exhaustively regulated by Directive 2009/15/EC and by Regulation (EC) No 391/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations (2), either directly or by reference to a number of IMO resolutions.

(12)

Furthermore, Directive 2009/15/EC provides that, following the adoption of new instruments or protocols to the international conventions referred to therein, the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, is to decide, taking into account the Member States’ parliamentary procedures as well as the relevant procedures within the IMO, on the detailed arrangements for ratifying those new instruments or protocols, while ensuring that they are applied uniformly and simultaneously in the Member States. The term ‘international conventions’ as defined both in Directive 2009/15/EC and in Regulation (EC) No 391/2009 includes the SOLAS, MARPOL and Load Lines conventions, together with the protocols and amendments to those conventions, and the related codes of mandatory application, in their up-to-date version.

(13)

The obligations incumbent on the flag States under the STCW Convention are covered by Directive 2008/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the minimum level of training of seafarers (3).

(14)

In some areas, possible discrepancies have been identified between the III Code and the RO Code on the one hand, and legal acts of the Union on the other. It is necessary to ensure the consistency with Union law of the Member States’ obligations arising from the application of the III Code and the RO Code under the STCW, SOLAS, MARPOL and Load Lines conventions, their protocols and other conventions and protocols which render the III Code and the RO Code mandatory for the Contracting Parties.

(15)

Directive 2009/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on compliance with flag State requirements (4) lays down a number of obligations for the Member States as flag States. These include in particular an obligation for Member States to take the necessary measures for an IMO audit of their administration to be carried out at least once every seven years. However, the relevant provision is to expire at the latest on 17 June 2017 or at an earlier date, as established by the Commission, if a mandatory IMO Member State Audit Scheme has entered into force.

(16)

With the exception of the areas of discrepancy with Union law, the two draft Codes must, on the whole, be considered a positive development in so far as they will establish high global standards for the activities of flag States and recognised organisations alike. For those reasons, the development of an IMO RO Code was explicitly envisaged in recital 4 of Regulation (EC) No 391/2009. The Union should therefore support the adoption of both Codes as mandatory instruments of the IMO.

(17)

The Union is neither a member of the IMO nor a Contracting Party to the conventions and protocols concerned. It is therefore necessary for the Council to authorise the Member States to give their consent to be bound, in the interests of the Union, by the amendments to those conventions and protocols which will make the III Code and the RO Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme,

(a)

amendments to Regulation 3 of Chapter 1 of Annex I and the inclusion of a new Annex IV to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 with a view to rendering the IMO Instruments Implementation Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme, as approved by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee at its 91st session and as laid down in Annex 10 to IMO document MSC 91/22;

(b)

amendments to Regulation 2 of Annex I and the inclusion of a new Annex III to the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement, 1969 with a view to rendering the IMO Instruments Implementation Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme, as approved by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee at its 91st session and as laid down in Annex 12 to IMO document MSC 91/22;

(c)

amendments to the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, by including a new Part F with a view to rendering the IMO Instruments Implementation Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme, as approved by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee at its 91st session and as laid down in Annex 11 to IMO document MSC 91/22.

(a)

amendments to Regulation 1 of Chapter XI-1 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS 1974) with a view to rendering the IMO Code on Recognised Organisations mandatory, as approved by that committee at its 91st session and as laid down in Annex 20 to IMO document MSC 91/22;

(b)

amendments to Regulation 2-1 of Chapter I of Annex I to the 1988 Protocol to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 with a view to rendering the IMO Code on Recognised Organisations mandatory, as approved by that committee in its 91st session and as laid down in Annex 21 to IMO document MSC 91/22.

(a)

amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS 1974) by including a new Chapter XIII with a view to rendering the IMO Instruments Implementation Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme, as approved by that committee at its 91st session and as laid down in Annex 17 to IMO document MSC 91/22;

(b)

amendments to Regulation 3 of Chapter 1 of Annex I and the inclusion of a new Annex IV to Annex B to the 1988 Protocol to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 with a view to rendering the IMO Instruments Implementation Code mandatory, together with an associated flag State audit scheme, as approved by that committee at its 91st session and as laid down in Annex 18 to IMO document MSC 91/22.

7.6.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 155/7

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in Annex XVI, Part A thereto.

(2)

The standard import value is calculated each working day, in accordance with Article 136(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, taking into account variable daily data. Therefore this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

7.6.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 155/9

(1)

On 11 March 2013, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate the Arms Trade Treaty in the framework of the United Nations on those matters coming under the exclusive competence of the Union.

(2)

On 2 April 2013, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the text of the Arms Trade Treaty. The General Assembly also requested the Secretary-General, as depositary of the Treaty, to open it for signature on 3 June 2013 and called upon all States to consider signing and, thereafter, according to their respective constitutional processes, becoming parties to the Treaty at the earliest possible date.

(3)

The object of the Treaty is to establish the highest possible common international standards for regulating or improving the regulation of the international trade in conventional arms, to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and prevent their diversion. Member States expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the negotiations and their willingness to urgently proceed to the signature of the Treaty.

(4)

Some of the provisions of the Treaty concern matters that fall under the exclusive competence of the Union because they are within the scope of the Common Commercial Policy or affect the Internal Market rules for the transfer of conventional arms and explosives.

(5)

The European Union cannot sign the Treaty, as only States can be parties thereto.

(6)

Therefore, in accordance with Article 2(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, with respect to those matters falling under the exclusive competence of the Union, the Council should authorise Member States to sign the Treaty in the interests of the Union,

7.6.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 155/s3