IAPH will be attending the 48th meeting of the IMO Facilitation Committee (FAL 48) which is taking place from 8-12 April at the IMO headquarters in London. Rhona Macdonald, Patrick Verhoeven and Frans Van Zoelen will be representing the association. This session is of particular importance as we have a total of five submissions on a number of topics that highlight the need to increase cooperation and improve efficiency between port authorities and other critical actors in the ship-to-shore interface. On cybersecurity, we have put forward a paper aiming to draw the Committee’s attention to the critical importance of developing a cybersecure Maritime Single Window (MSW) and outlining IAPH’s intention to collaborate with Member States to prepare a proposal for FAL 49 to include a new output to amend the annex of the FAL Convention to introduce mandatory requirements for protecting the MSW from cyber risks. Also on the topic of the MSW, together with the World Customs Organization, we have submitted a joint paper inviting the Committee to discuss and take note of the WCO-IAPH Guidelines on Cooperation between Customs and Port Authorities, together with an additional document with BIMCO and other industry bodies reporting on the results of a study conducted on how ship crews perceive the current state of digitalisation in ports. Following the development of the Guidelines on Port Community Systems at the previous FAL meeting, we will also introduce our paper, submitted with the World Bank, outlining the key points addressed in the joint IAPH–World Bank report on Port Community Systems–Lessons from Global Experience. Finally, in continuation of the work at the Risk and Resilience Committee on illicit trade and organised crime, we have co-sponsored a submission with InterPort Police, BIMCO, and others, which proposes a new output to be established at the next session to revise the Guidelines for the preventions and suppression of the smuggling of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals on ships engaged in international traffic. We will be following discussions closely and will distribute a report to members on the outcomes of these submissions.
