Guidelines for the establishment of a harmonized "no-special-fee" system for the delivery of ship-generated oily wastes originating from the machinery spaces and for the delivery of sewage and garbage to port reception facilities

1                    Definition of the "no-special-fee" system

1.1                 In this context the "no-special-fee" system is defined as a charging system where the cost of reception, handling and disposal of ship-generated wastes, originating from the normal operation of the ship, is included in the harbour fee or otherwise charged to the ship irrespective of whether wastes are delivered or not.

1.2                 The "no-special-fee" system is not restricted to any specific type of ship-generated waste.

2                    Obligation to pay

2.1                 Every sea-going ship's obligation to pay for reception, handling and disposal of oil residues, sewage and garbage is deemed to arise with the arrival of a ship in any port of the participating countries, irrespective of whether or not that particular ship will actually make use of the reception facilities, which are available there.

2.2                 The above fee covers the waste collecting, handling and processing including infrastructure and shall be distributed among ships and collected as part of or in addition to the port dues.

3                    Exemptions

3.1                 A ship may be exempted by the competent authority from the obligation to pay, when engaged in scheduled traffic with regular and frequent port calls and it is ensured that the disposal requirements will be met on the ship’s own account.

3.2                 For the purpose of these Guidelines "scheduled traffic with regular and frequent port calls" means the traffic meeting following criteria:

3.2.1        scheduled: the ship must have a published or planned list of times of departures and arrivals, between nominated ports or terminals;

3.2.2        regular: for being exempted, the ship must make repeated journeys between those nominated ports or terminals;

3.2.3        frequent: the ship must visit the port for which the exemption applies at least once a fortnight.

3.3.                When a ship applies for an exemption, the competent authority of the Port State should require evidence of the ship’s scheduled traffic as well as evidence of waste management practice (contract, receipts, copy of garbage record book, oil record book etc.). The ship has to organize its waste management according to a contract and deliver its waste regularly under this arrangement in a certain port/ports. If it chooses to deliver elsewhere, a port can charge the ship according to the real costs (direct fee). 

3.4.                The Contracting Parties should also inform about the issued exemptions to other Port States along the scheduled route. The Contracting Parties will inform the HELCOM Secretariat of their competent authority responsible for granting exemptions from the mandatory delivery and notification requirements.

4                    Basis of calculation of the no-special-fee

4.1                 The waste management fee imposed on a ship should be independent of the volume of the wastes delivered to the port reception facilities. To obtain the maximum of truth and fairness in specifying the ship’s contribution to the no-special-fee system the gross tonnage, as indicated in the vessel's Data Sheet, could be taken as the basis of calculation by the port. Basis of calculation of oil, garbage and sewage may depend on the type and size of the ship as well as the number of crew and passengers.

4.2                 A high quality standard of the applied waste management procedures and waste processing equipment on board can also be taken into account in scaling the waste management fee, having in mind the general aim of minimisation of waste production, and the benefit of waste separation.

4.3                 The waste management fee shall be fair, transparent and non-discriminatory to all ships, i.e. the size of the waste management fee shall be visible to every ship even if it is included in the harbour fee.

4.4                 The waste management fees received from ships shall be used for no other purposes than:

-           investments in reception facilities, stationary and mobile;
-           operation of reception facilities;
-           repair and maintenance costs of such facilities;
-           costs of handling, treatment and final disposal of the received wastes.

5                    Avoidance of competitive distortion

5.1                 To avoid competitive distortions between ports located in different sea areas, all possible efforts shall be made to achieve as soon as possible a harmonized waste management fee system for the ports in the Baltic Sea and in the North Sea Regions.

5.2                 The Contracting Parties involved shall make the necessary efforts in order to implement a harmonized fee system simultaneously in the ports of the Baltic Sea as well as in the North Sea Regions.

5.3                 Provisions should be made to preclude any subsidising of the waste management fee through public funds for the operation of reception facilities.

5.4                 The Governments of the Contracting Parties shall exchange periodic reports on the implementation of these Guidelines in their ports, including reports on the financing and operation of reception facilities, and evaluate such reports at the meetings of the Maritime Group of the Helsinki Commission.