At the forthcoming 48th meeting of the IMO Facilitation Committee, IAPH have made a number of submissions that reflect the ongoing work and recent progress made at the Data Collaboration Committee. IAPH, alongside Pascal Ollivier, Frans Van Zoelen and other stakeholders, have submitted three documents to this session. Following the 1 January 2024 deadline requiring Contracting States to the FAL Convention to set up a Maritime Single Window (MSW), IAPH have submitted a document aiming to draw the Committee’s attention to the issue of cybersecurity and resilience of the MSW and calls for Member States to develop and operate their MSW’s in a cybersecure manner. Additionally, the paper also outlines the intentions of IAPH to continue to collaborate with Member States and international organisations to prepare a proposal to FAL 49 for a new output with the intention of amending the annex of the FAL convention to introduce mandatory requirements for protecting MSW from cyber risks. Also under this agenda item, IAPH and the WCO have an additional document that highlights the need for greater coordinated border management with the publications of the joint Guidelines on Cooperation between Customs and Port Authorities. Together with The World Bank, the third submission aims to complement the development of the IMO guidelines on Port Community Systems (PCS) by outlining the findings from the joint IAPH and World Bank report in 2023 on lessons learned from global experience and emphasises the critical need of governments to prioritise the implementation of PCS to improve efficiency. Finally, IAPH has also co-sponsored two other documents. First, continuing on the theme of digitalisation, the joint paper with BIMCO reports on a recent industry survey demonstrating the need for standardised and harmonised digital systems across ports. Also with BIMCO, Interportpolice and others, the final submission proposes a new output to revise the existing IMO Guidelines for the prevention and suppressions of the smuggling of drugs, and aligns with the ongoing work of the Risk and Resilience Committee. IAPH will be attending FAL 48 which is taking place from 8 to 12 April 2024 and will be reporting on the outcomes of these documents in due course.
