 | Mr R Bone Tel: +44 (0)23 8032 9209 |
Dear Consultee
Policy regarding European Community Technical Requirements for Inland Waterway Vessels
| 1. | This consultation seeks the views of industry and stakeholders on new policy regarding the UK transposition of EU Directive 2006/87/EC (as amended) “Laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels”. This policy will transpose the requirements of the Directive, yet minimise the impact to the UK Inland Waterways industry, and other waterway users. |
| 2. | The new policy has been developed in consultation with surveyors and technical experts to maintain the UK domestic safety regime and avoid unnecessary financial and operational burdens. |
| 3. | The policy will be applicable to all UK ships and vessels operating on UK Categorised waters. One aim of the policy is to authorise derogations from the Directive for vessels that operate only on UK Inland Waters. This will mean that vessels operating solely in the UK will only be subject to the applicable domestic technical standards. |
| 4. | The consultation will end on 25 March and all comments should be provided in writing by post, fax or email to:- Richard Bone Fax: 023 8032 9104 to arrive no later than 25th March 2010. |
| 5. | Responses, and any comments that the MCA has on them, will be published on the website as soon as possible after the consultation period has finished. |
| 6. | If your address details require any amendment, or you consider there are any other persons who should be consulted, please advise accordingly. |
| 7. | Electronic versions of the consultation documents can be found on the MCA Website using the following address http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga07-home/shipsandcargoes/consultations/mcga-currentconsultations.htm This will open up the “Current Consultations” page on which is listed the consultation on Policy regarding European Community Technical Requirements or Inland Waterway Vessels. Should you require paper copies of all documents, please contact Richard Bone at the above address. |
| 8. | Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes. These are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. |
| 9. | If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give assurances that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automated confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the MCA. |
| 10. | The MCA will process your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties. |
| 11. | This consultation is being conducted in accordance with Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultations. Should you have any comments or complaints about how this consultation has been conducted please direct them to the MCA’s Consultation Co-ordinator:- Consultation Co-ordinator Consultation.coordinator@mcga.gov.uk |
Yours faithfully
Mr Richard Bone
Vessel Policy Advisor
Vessel Policy Branch
To download a copy of the consultation document click here (PDF 
872KB)
To download a copy of the Regulatory Impact Assessment click here (PDF 572 KB)
