Study On China’s Implementation Of The Electronic Information Exchange Obligations Of The Convention On Facilitation Of International Maritime Traffic

On 9 April 1965,the Facilitation Committee of the International Maritime Organization(hereinafter referred to as IMO)adopted the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic(hereinafter referred to as the FAL Convention),which entered into force on 5 March 1967 and entered into force for China on 16 March 1995.The FAL Convention has been amended several times,the most recent amendment being on 8 April 2016,and the 2016 amendment entered into force on 1 January 2018.Compared with the previous one,the 2016 amendment provides more detailed provisions on the electronic information exchange obligation,and provides detailed provisions on the electronic information exchange obligation through the publication of relevant documents such as Explanatory Manual to The Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic,1965,As Amended,Revised IMO Compendium on Facilitation and Electronic Business and Guidelines For Setting Up A Maritime Single Window.Based on the 2016 amendments to the FAL Convention,this paper analyzes the current implementation of China’s obligations on electronic information exchange under the FAL Convention and its shortcomings,and compares its implementation with that of other countries,with the aim of gaining insights from the practical experience of other countries’ implementation,so as to put forward countermeasures and suggestions for solving the problems existing in China’s implementation.The paper is divided into five chapters in addition to the introduction and conclusion,as follows.The first chapter is devoted to an introduction to the provisions of the FAL Convention on the obligation to exchange electronic information.Starting from the background of the development and revision of the FAL Convention,the article focuses on the importance of the Convention and,in particular,on the main elements of the electronic information exchange obligations in the Convention.The provisions of the FAL Convention on the exchange of electronic information are divided into two parts,one is the obligations set out in the Annexes to the FAL Convention,including the mandatory requirements and recommended practices for all Contracting States,and this part of the provisions mainly recommends that countries adopt the "single window" approach to the exchange of electronic information.The other part is the provisions in the relevant documents of the Convention,which set out in more detail the obligations that States Parties to the Convention should fulfil.The second chapter is a study of China’s compliance with the legal recognition and sharing of trade data obligations under the FAL Convention.Firstly,this chapter introduces the current status of China’s compliance with the legal recognition and sharing obligations of trade data,from which the existing problems of China’s compliance are summarised and the causes of the problems are analysed in order to facilitate better solutions.Secondly,this paper analyzes the legal norms and management agencies of the legal recognition and sharing obligations of trade data in the United States,Japan and Singapore.Finally,to solve the problems in China’s compliance with the legal recognition and sharing obligations of trade data,countermeasures are proposed from three perspectives: to smooth the data connection mechanism of the "single window" platform,to optimise the two-tier "single window" model and to give full play to the role of the Transport Facilitation Committee.The third chapter is a study of China’s implementation of its information security and data privacy obligations under the FAL Convention.Firstly,the current status of China’s compliance is summarised in terms of the problems of data surveillance and misuse,prior review,institutional regulation and the lagging nature of the corresponding laws,and the need for further supplementation and clarification of the subjects of legal responsibility.Secondly,we analyse the comparative law of the United States,Japan and Singapore from three perspectives: regulatory agencies,internal risk management systems,the combined regulatory model of enterprise self-management and government supervision.Finally,three solution strategies are proposed: strengthening the legal supervision and management of information security,optimising smart customs regulatory services and developing a regular evaluation system.The fourth chapter is a study of the legal recognition and application of our obligations to fulfil the FAL Convention in relation to electronic signatures.Firstly,it is concluded from the current status of China’s compliance that China has the problem of international recognition of the validity of electronic signatures and the problem of insufficient applicability of domestic electronic signatures.Secondly,two strategies are proposed to promote the international mutual recognition of electronic signatures and to facilitate the promotion of the use of electronic signatures in response to these two problems.The fifth chapter is a study of the legal safeguards for the exchange of electronic information in China’s implementation of the FAL Convention.Firstly,from the current situation of China’s compliance,it is concluded that China has the problem of "single window" construction of the superior law gap,as well as the electronic form of information exchange legal confirmation problem.Secondly,the legal protection of electronic information exchange in the United States and Japan is compared,and two inspirations are obtained: firstly,the system construction needs to be preceded by legislation,and secondly,the development results will be legalized at the right time with the times.Finally,two recommendations are made to promote the development of the legalization of the "single window".