CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA (REGULATION) ACT

CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA (REGULATION)

CHAPTER 283

CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA

(REGULATION) ACT

To regulate the carriage of goods by sea to and from Malta.

(29th January, 1980) *

ACT II of 1980, as amended by Acts XIII of 1983 and XVII of 1991;

Legal Notice 423 of 2007; and Act XV of 2009.

The short title of this Act is the Carriage of Goods by Sea

(Regulation) Act.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"goods" includes goods of any description;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for ports and, to the

extent of the authority given, includes any person authorised by the

said Minister in that behalf;

"port" means any place where goods are loaded or unloaded on or

from a ship;

"shipping line" includes a liner conference.

(1) Where in respect of the carriage of goods by sea to or

from Malta from or to a port in any other country the Minister has,

by order in the Gazette, provided that no such carriage of goods as

aforesaid shall take place except with his permission, no goods

carried or intended to be carried by sea to or from Malta from or to

a port in any country to which an order as aforesaid applies shall be

loaded or unloaded in Malta unless such loading or unloading is

permitted by the Minister and except in accordance with the

Minister ’s permission and any conditions or other provisions

contained therein.

(2) Where in respect of the carriage of goods by sea to or from

Malta from or to a port in any other country there is in force an

agreement for the sharing of such cargo between shipping lines,

and such agreement has been approved by the Minister for the

purposes of this Act, such approval, and any conditions or other

provisions thereof shall have the effect of a permission granted

under subarticle (1) and, subject to any conditions or other

provisions of the Minister ’s approval, the provisions of the

agreement shall have the same effect as if they were provisions of

the Minister’s permission.

(3) The Minister’s permission or approval under either of the

foregoing subarticles may be given by such means and in such

manner or form as the Minister may deem appropriate, and may be

general, specific or applicable to a class or classes of cases.

*See Government Notice No. 106 of 29th January, 1980.

CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA (REGULATION)

Where the Minister has given a permission under article

3(1) or has approved an agreement under subarticle (2) of that

article, he shall, by notice in the Gazette, or in the order or

regulation containing that permission or approval or providing

therefor, give such information about the permission or the

agreement, including the countries, ships and shipping lines

affected thereby, as may be appropriate in the circumstances.

A declaration under the hand of the Minister stating that

goods may or may not be loaded or unloaded in Malta on or from a

specified ship, or a ship of a specified shipping line, shall be

conclusive evidence of its contents.

The Authority for Transport in Malta shall have power to

refuse entry into or departure from any port in Malta if it has

reasonable ground to believe that a provision of this Act has been

or is likely to be contravened in respect of that ship or its cargo.

The Minister may make regulations for carrying into effect

the provisions of this Act and, without prejudice to the generality

of the foregoing, for -

(a) exempting any goods from any of the provisions of

this Act;

(b) providing for any matter incidental or supplementary

to the provisions of this Act.

A person who contravenes any of the provisions of article 3

or of any order or regulation made under this Act shall be guilty of

an offence and shall for each offence be liable on conviction to a

fine (multa) of not less than one hundred and sixteen euro and

forty-seven cents (116.47) and not exceeding eleven thousand and

six hundred and forty-six euro and eighty-seven cents (11,646.87);

and any goods loaded or unloaded in contravention of any of those

provisions shall be forfeited to the Government.