FAL declarations and certificates

The FAL Convention seeks to standardize the information required by Member States from ships when calling a port to facilitate international trade.

According to the FAL Convention, public authorities shall introduce arrangements to allow the submission of declarations in electronic format, according to the guidelines and the requirements provided in the IMO Compendium.

Declarations may be required in paper form (FAL Forms) by the public authorities in exceptional circumstances in accordance with Standard 2.11.

This is the list of declarations for ship arrival and departure:

  1. General declaration (FAL 1)
  2. Cargo declaration (FAL 2)
  3. Ship's Stores Declaration (FAL 3) 
  4. Crew's Effects Declaration (FAL 4) 
  5. Crew list (FAL 5)
  6. Passenger list (FAL 6)
  7. Dangerous Goods Manifest (FAL 7)
  8. Delivery bill for mail consignment as described in the Acts of the Universal Postal Union, the Universal Postal Convention and its Regulations currently in force
  9. Maritime Declaration of Health (International Health Regulations
  10. Ship Sanitation Control Exemption Certificate or Ship Sanitation Control Certificate or extension (International Health Regulations)
  11. Security-related information as required under SOLAS regulation XI-2/9.2.2 (MSC.1/Circ.1305)
  12. Advance electronic cargo information for customs risk assessment purposes as set out in the WCO Safe Framework of Standards
  13. Advance Notification document for Waste Delivery to Port Reception Facilities (MEPC.1/Circ.834/Rev.1)

The maximum information of the declarations 1) to 7) referred above is shown in appendix 1 of the last amendments to the annex of the FAL Convention, which entered into force on 1 January 2024.

Certificates and E-certificates

All ships are required to carry certificates that establish their seaworthiness, type of ship, competency of seafarers and so on. These certificates are provided by the flag State of the ship and may be inspected by port State control officers.

To facilitate the clearance and inspection period for ships in port and in accordance with the formalities required of ships on the arrival, stay and departure of ships, the FAL Committee together with other IMO bodies issued FAL.2/Circ.133 on List of certificates and documents required to be carried on board ships, 2022.

The FAL Committee agreed in 2014 (FAL 39) that electronic certificates should be treated as equivalent to traditional paper certificates, provided that the certificates and the website used to access them conform to the guidelines approved by the Organization and that specific verification instructions are available on board the ship.

To facilitate the use and acceptance of electronic certificates, FAL approved the Guidelines for the use of electronic certificates (FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev.2). Likewise, MEPC issued Guidelines for the use of electronic record books under MARPOL (resolution MEPC.312(74) and MSC approved the Guidelines on the use of electronic certificates of seafarers.

The GISIS module "Survey and Certification" provides information on electronic certificates issued by flag States and the relevant website links for verification of authenticity. The FAL Committee urges Member States to use GISIS to provide their e-certification information.