Asian Shipowners’ Association raises concerns over EU levy

Asian Shipowners’ Association (ASA) says that is in discussion with ICS and ECSA regarding the EU’s proposal to potentially introduce a levy on all ships entering EU ports as an incentive to shipowners to recycle their ships in an environmentally friendly way.

During the  25th Annual General Meeting, the Association affirmed that any unilaterally-imposed regional regulation will not be an appropriate solution to ensure green ship recycling worldwide as long as regulations do not consider common practices in major ship recycling countries.

In this context, ASA re-affirmed its long-standing policy that the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (HKC) is the best solution to enhance safety and environmental protection for ship recycling. The ASA members agreed to encourage their own governments to ratify the HKC at the earliest opportunity.

In this connection, the European Union’s (EU) potential introduction of a financial instrument requiring all ships entering EU ports, regardless of its flag, to pay a levy in order to ensure the effectiveness of its regional regulation on ship recycling has raised concerns to many shipowners.

The ASA is currently in talks with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) with respect to this issue.

source photo & article: http://www.green4sea.com/asian-shipowners-association-raises-concerns-over-eu-levy/