Carib MOU adopts Rules of Procedure, welcomes new member
Published:Tuesday | August 31, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding (CMOU) on port state control has adopted revisions to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the rules of procedures (ROP) governing the activities of the committee.
Members of the CMOU adopted the changes during their 15th annual committee meeting held in Curaçao, July 25-29.
The amendments cover issues such as a new definition of the Caribbean region in an effort to dictate which maritime administrations may become members of the CMOU, as well as a clear explanation of the MOU's tax status.
The normalisation of the financial mechanism for the operations of the secretariat, including the Caribbean Maritime Information Centre (CMIC), through financial contributions, gifts and contributions, categories of membership, which now include member, associate member, observer and observer organisation and their respective criteria.
The proposed changes to the ROP covered areas such as the time frame for the submission of documents and the formats for the documents; procedures for the election of the chairman and vice chairman of the committee; provisions with respect to casting votes; handling of members in arrears and the inclusion of the Small Commercial Vessel Code.
Decisions were also made on the financing of Fact Finding Missions (FFM), host-state agreements with Jamaica; and training opportunities for member administrations.
Ambassador Dwight Gardiner, chairman of the CMOU and representative of Antigua and Barbuda, said he was pleased with the outcome of the meeting, as the targets set had been surpassed.
"I would like to also congratulate the committee on the work undertaken at the meeting including the adoption of the amendments to the MOU and the ROP, the approval of the FFM checklist and method of funding as well as the CMIC Host State Agreement among other things," he said.
The meeting also saw St Christopher and Nevis being accepted as the 14th member of the CMOU. Other member countries are Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.