Ammendments to FAL convention

LIST OF AMENDMENT TO FAL CONVENTION ARE AS FOLLOW

1st  : The 2002 amendments (Adoption: 10 January 2002, Entry into force: 1 May 2003 ).

Amendment : Add new standards and recommended practices for dealing with 

                          stowaways.

Amendment: Dangerous Goods Manifest (FAL Form 7), which becomes the basic                      document providing public authorities with the information regarding 

                     dangerous goods on board ships.

2nd : The 2005 amendments (Adoption: 7 July 2005,Entry into force: 1 November 2006 ).

This amendments was intended to modernize the Convention in order to enhance the facilitation of international maritime traffic, following was the amendments.

- Practice for public authorities to develop the necessary procedures in order to use pre-arrival and pre-departure information to facilitate the processing of information, and thus expedite release and clearance of cargo and persons.

- Recommended Practice that all information should be submitted to a single point to avoid duplication.

- Encouragement of electronic transmission of information.

- Amendment requires public authorities to facilitate the arrival and departure of ships engaged in the rescue of persons in distress at sea in order to provide a place of safety for such persons.

3rd: The 2009 amendments (Adoption: 16 January 2009,Entry into force: 15 May 2010 ).

-This amendment introduced the text of "voyage number", and new IMO FAL Forms were approved.

-This amendment was  related to sections concerning contents and purpose of documents.

4th: The 2016 amendments (Adoption: 8 April 2016, Entry into force: 1 January 2018).

-These amendments introduce new definitions for Cargo Transport Unit (CTU), clearance, freight container, the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, master, ship agent, shipper and single window. 

-All IMO FAL forms were revised except for Ship's Stores Declaration (IMO FAL Form 3).

Single Window : Since 9 April 2019, Electronic exchange of information is mandatory with a transition period of no less than 12 months. The text now refers to the use of "Single Window" systems and has been revised in a gender neutral format.