NextGen Day

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has signed an executive order (EO) adopting an “integrated approach” to the ratification and accession of agreements and instruments of the International Maritime Organization.

EO 159, signed by Duterte on December 28 and made public on Thursday, renames the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on the Ratification and Implementation of Maritime Conventions (ICCRIMC) to the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee to Facilitate the Ratification, Accession to, and Implementation of Maritime Conventions (ICCFRAIMC).

Through research, monitoring, and coordination with other government agencies, the ICCRIMC was established in 2015 under the Department of Transportation and Communications, which is now the Department of Transportation (DOTr), to monitor developments and consider new international maritime conventions for ratification, including measures needed to satisfy their respective requirements.

“The State is committed to remaining at the forefront of international maritime developments, and identify ways to improve its maritime sector, by integrating and empowering its Maritime Administration to study new maritime conventions and instruments for ratification, determine the responsibilities required by them, and conduct a national interest analysis to ascertain their benefits to the country,” Duterte said in signing the EO 159.

“The country aspires to become a significant maritime nation that prioritizes the protection of lives and the marine environment, as well as the advancement of standards of training, certification, and watchkeeping for seafarers,” according to the EO.

A person from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will chair the ICCFRAIMC, while a representative from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will serve as vice-chair, according to the new EO.

Representatives from the following departments and agencies will serve on the committee: Department of Science and Technology; Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA); Philippine Coast Guard; Philippine Ports Authority; Cebu Port Authority; Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – Environmental Management Bureau; DENR – Biodiversity Management Bureau; University of the Philippines (UP) – M.A.

The new committee will be charged with considering new international maritime conventions for ratification or accession, conducting a national interest analysis for the purpose, and studying the measures required to meet convention requirements, as well as the implications on the country’s existing maritime operations.

It will also be in charge of developing and adopting a National Work Programme (NWP) to establish timelines and meeting frequencies, assign agency roles and responsibilities, and ensure the eventual implementation and enforcement of adopted instruments, all in accordance with the country’s overall maritime strategy.

Among other things, the committee will analyze and endorse new legislation, national policies, and administrative regulations in order to aid in the execution of accepted instruments.

The committee may establish a Technical Working Group (TWG) comprised mostly of representatives from ICCFRAIMC members, and select a lead agency for each international maritime instrument or group of instruments under study or process.

Funding requirements for participation and implementation of relevant activities will be charged against existing appropriations of committee members, subject to availability and existing budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules and regulations, while funding requirements for subsequent years will be incorporated in the members’ annual budget proposals, subject to the usual budget process.

As a member of the International Maritime Organization since 1964, the Philippines has ratified a number of international conventions aimed at improving the safety of Filipino seafarers, protecting the marine environment from ship operations, and raising certification standards to improve the competency of Filipino seafarers, among other things.

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