Membership Surveys

In their role as the national representative organisations for ship brokers and ship agents, FONASBA members are often required to provide input to or comment on new or amended regulations for specific activities that their member state government intends to apply to the sector. In addition they may also be asked to provide guidance to their member companies on the application of new measures. In order to be able to provide fully informed guidance to its members, the association needs to take into account a wide range of factors including, importantly, how the situation in their own state compares to others on a global or regional basis. It certainly strengthens the hand of a national association in negotiating with its government if it can demonstrate that a particular proposal is in accordance with, or contrary to, accepted practice in other relevant member states.

Member associations are therefore encouraged to seek the assistance of their colleague members within FONASBA through the circulation, by the Secretariat, of an enquiry. Responses from member associations are received by the Secretariat and combined verbatim in a response form which is then sent to the originating association for their guidance. As well as guiding the association concerned, the results of these surveys also form a useful information resource for the shipping industry as a whole and it is for that reason that the responses to previous surveys are now being made available for the wider maritime sector.

This page therefore lists all the recent questions raised by our member associations and clicking on the title will link to the summary sheet where the collated responses from other members can be found.

These surveys also link in to, and should be considered alongside, the information available in our Port Procedures Survey, which can be found here.

FONASBA Container Weighing Surveys

Since the very beginning, FONASBA has supported the introduction of amendments to SOLAS requiring mandatory weighing of all containers transported by sea. FONASBA has worked closely with IMO and other maritime sector organisations at international level and our members have maintained close coordination and dialogue with national authorities at country level, to ensure that the regulations were drafted and in accordance with relevant international maritime  laws and conventions and also acknowledged the practical realities and constraints of maritime trade.

Throughout the development and implementation processes, FONASBA has regularly surveyed its members to ensure that positive progress was being maintained. The results of those surveys are provided below.

FONASBA/IMO Post Implementation Survey – September 2017

Following presentation of the results of the 2016 survey at the London Annual Meeting (see below), IMO invited FONASBA to carry out a follow up exercise in 2017, aimed at reviewing compliance with the SOLAS Amendment and the impact it was having on regional trade patterns. The results of this survey can be found here.

2016 Surveys

After the introduction of the SOLAS Amendments on 1st July 2016,  we invited member associations to comment on the status of implementation as at the end of September, to provide an early review of the status of the Regulation amendment in member countries.  The results were presented at the London Annual Meeting, at which IMO’s Maritime Safety Division was also represented. The results of the September survey can be found here.

The full response showing detailed replies from every responding Member to the final pre-implementation survey as at 11th May 2016 is available here:

CONTAINER WEIGHING SURVEY 2016 – UPDATED 11.05.2016

An Executive Summary based on the results to the end of March 2016:  CONTAINER WEIGHING SURVEY 2016 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A set of charts showing the results to the end of March 2016 in graphical format: CONTAINER WEIGHING SURVEY 2016 – IN PICTURES

A copy of the press release issued on 4th April 2016 is also available here:  CONTAINER WEIGHING SURVEY 2016 – PRESS RELEASE

The results of the July 2015 round of the survey can be found below.

FONASBA was also invited to participate in two video interviews on the impact of container weighing  by Port Technology International magazine in late April. For further information, and to view the videos, go to the News and Events page here.

Recent Membership Surveys

Covid-19 Survey
Carried out in early March 2020 this survey summarises the precautions being taken in FONASBA member countries to prevent COVID-19 being introduced by seafarers and passengers. Given the rapidly changing nature of this outbreak, the information provided, especially in relation  to high risk countries, may be subject to change at short notice. Current information should therefore be obtained from the FONASBA member association. Contact details can be found in the membership list here .

France: Port Dues

France: Intra-EU ENS

Belgium: VAT on Transport Services  (January 2022 Update)

Denmark: VAT on Transport Services (October 2020)

Israel: Registration of Agents for Customs Reporting

Brazil: Cruise Sector During Covid-19

Morocco: Port Incinerators

Bulgaria: Customs Survey ECASBA Members

Spain: Documentation Charges

Turkey: Delivery Orders

Ukraine: Towage Operators

Algeria: Draft Surveys

Peru: Covid Positive Seafarers

Jordan: Container Seals

Israel: Status of Agents

Argentina: Electronic Bills of Lading

Angola: Import Fees

Egypt: Container Condition Guarantees

Israel: Dangerous Goods

Algeria: Container Entry

Israel: Sludge Removal

Algeria: Customs Duties

France: Sanitary Inspection Fee

Jordan: Container Damage Liability

Egypt: Chamber Funding

France: Immigration Authorities

Peru: Health & Immigration

The Netherlands: PCS/ MSW Funding

Mexico: Maritime Authority Structure

Portugal: Cruise Operations

Croatia: Schengen Criteria

France: VAT and Sanitary Certificates

Israel: Departure Formalities

Portugal: Cash to Masters Declaration

Slovenia: VAT on Bills of Lading

Egypt: Abandoned Containers

Lebanon: Delivery Orders

Argentina: Port Governance

Venezuela: Shore Passes

Morocco: Terminal Handling Charges

The Netherlands: ISPS Survey

Israel: Port Charges Tariffs

Denmark: Survey on the current requirements for passport checks on non-EU citizens in Schengen Area ports

Bulgaria: Summary of the requirements for proof of international voyage status for VAT purposes

France: Survey into the level of pre-funding of port calls

Mexico: Survey on the application of penalties for late changes to pilotage orders

Croatia: Survey on the use of electronic signatures for the lodgement of documents in Single Window applications.

Portugal: Update Survey on the VAT Status of Supplies and Services to Ships. 
A supporting paper provided by France can be found here.

Italy: Survey on Actions by Designated Authorities to Ensure Compliance with VGM Obligations

Argentina: Inspection of Ship’s Stores by Customs

Argentina: Customs Procedures for Controlling Transshipped Containers

Argentina: Procedures for Disposal of MARPOL Annex V Waste

Russia: Visa Procedures for Departing Seafarers

Brazil: Receipt of Port Disbursements in Local or Other Currency

Belgium: Schengen Visa Summary

Croatia: Application of CIMIS-RFD to Large Pleasure Vessels

Portugal: Container Weighing Using Weighbridges

Cyprus: Duties on Oil Cargoes

Spain: Port Weather Conditions

FONASBA Member Association Questionnaire 2015

FONASBA Container Weighing Survey 2015

ECASBA: Survey of the current status of implementation of the Reporting Formalities Directive

Malta: Transhipment of Cargoes of Animal Origin

ECASBA: As Agents Only

Portugal: Differences on out-turn quantities on T2L forms

Sweden: SECA Inspection Charges

Mediterranean & Black Sea Regional Range Committee: Vessel Arrival Inspections Due to the number of questions and the variety of responses to this survey, the results are presented in Excel spreadsheet format

South Africa: Movement of hi-cube containers by road

Spain: Information on the liability of the ship agent towards port service providers

Angola:  Ownership of agencies

Kenya: The use of delivery orders for shipments of motor vehicles

Finland: VAT on agents invoices

Brazil: The application of free pratique regulations

Brazil: Graduate Studies in Maritime Subjects

Kenya: Port State Control

Argentina: Cabotage