Revised African Maritime Transport Charter (2010)

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Published date: 05 December 2017
• Pages: 180-201
• Date: 05 December 2017
• Author: None

180

REVISED AFRICAN MARITIME

TRANSPORT CHARTER

1

We, Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the

African Union (AU):

INSPIRED by the objectives stated in the Constitutive Act of the

African Union,2 particularly article 3;

CONSIDERING the Treaty Establishing the African Economic

Community,3 particularly the relevant provisions dealing with

maritime transport;

CONSIDERING the relevant provisions of the Convention Relating

to Transit Trade of Land-locked States,4 signed on 8 July 1965

in New York;

RECOGNIZING the specific character of maritime transport as a

regional, continental and international activity;

RECOGNIZING also the role of maritime transport in the facilitation

and development of trade between Africa and other parts of

the world and the need to implement an effective maritime

transport policy with a view to promoting intra-African trade

and trade between African States and other continents;

RECOGNIZING further the essential obligations of coastal States in

maritime governance and port state control;

CONSIDERING the importance of cooperation in the implemen-

tation of maritime conventions and regulations, particularly in

the areas of safety, security, protection of the marine environ-

ment and maritime labour;

CONSCIOUS of the interdependence between economic develop-

ment and a sustainable policy for the protection and preserva-

tion of the marine environment;

RECOGNIZING the importance and the role of efficient transport

infrastructure and services in the political, economic and social

integration of Africa;

1 The Charter has not come into effect yet and is also available at http://

www.au.int/en/treaties/revised-african-maritime-transport-charter

(accessed on 10 January 2016). The following footnotes have been

added by the editors.

2 See pages 105-115 above.

3 (1991) 30 ILM 1241.

4 597 UNTS 3.

2016 JOLGA 180

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Revised African Maritime Transport Charter

181

CONSIDERING further the roles of United Nations agencies and other

international and regional organizations in maritime transport;

BEARING in mind further the need for Africa to fully and effectively

implement the 2003 Almaty Declaration and Programme

of Action on Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked

Developing Countries;

CONSCIOUS of the need to establish and strengthen cooperation

in order to coordinate and harmonize maritime, port and inland

waterways policies, regulations and procedures both in our

mutual relations and in our relations with third States;

CONSIDERING that the implementation of maritime policies

requires heavy investments especially in terms of infrastructure

and equipment and that these investments should in the first

place be provided by the Member States of the Union, including

the maritime industry itself;

CONCERNED by the diversity and disparity of maritime and

inland waterways policies, regulations and procedures between

and within Member States;

CONSCIOUS of the importance of the role of maritime transport in

the promotion of economic development and the achievement

of the Millennium Development Goals;

CONSCIOUS of the need to develop African merchant fleets, to

ensure the development of maritime transport in Africa;

PREOCCUPIED by the special difficulties of island countries to fit

themselves into the process of integration and development of

African nations;

RESOLVED to implement Decision n° EX.CL/Dec.358 (XI) of the

Executive Council of the African Union which endorses the

Abuja Declaration and Plan of Action on Maritime Transport

in Africa, particularly point 1 relating to the updating of the

African Maritime Transport Charter adopted in 1993.5

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

5 The Charter has not come into effect yet and is available at http://www.

au.int/en/treaties/african-maritime-transport-charter (accessed on 10

January 2016).

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