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19 DECEMBER 2012. - An Act to implement various international conventions on civil liability for pollution by ships, concerning substances referred to in section 78 of the Constitution (1) (2)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER I^er. - Introductory provisions
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. § 1^er. For the purposes of this Act:
1° CLC Convention: the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the amendments thereto in force in Belgium;
2° CLC Certificate: a certificate referred to in Article VII, paragraph 2, of the CLC Convention;
3° "Soute Hydrocarbons Convention": the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Due to Pollution from Buffer Hydrocarbons and the amendments thereto in force in Belgium;
4° "Soute Hydrocarbon Certificate": a certificate referred to in Article 7, paragraph 2, of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention.
§ 2. For the purposes of this Act:
1° "Responsibility Conventions": the CLC Convention and the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention;
2° "Certificate of Insurance":
(a) a CLC Certificate, or
(b) a Soute Hydrocarbon Certificate;
3° "ship": any sea building or marine equipment, whatever it is;
4° "gross gauge": the raw gauge calculated in accordance with the gauge rules listed in Appendix 1^er the 1969 International Convention on the Measurement of Ships;
5° "the designated Navigation Control Officer": the designated Navigation Control Officer for this purpose of the Marine Transport Branch of the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport.
CHAPTER II. - Requirements for ships
and shipowners on the Liability Conventions
Art. 3. It is prohibited to operate at any time a ship subject to the provisions of Article VII of the CLC Convention and flying Belgian flag, if the vessel is not equipped with a valid certificate, issued under Article VII, paragraphs 2 or 12 of the CLC Convention.
It is prohibited to operate at any time a ship subject to the provisions of Article 7 of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention and flying Belgian flag, if the vessel is not equipped with a valid certificate issued under Article 7(2) or 14 of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention.
The requirements of subparagraphs 1^er and 2 are also applicable to inland navigation vessels not flying the Belgian flag and having obtained authorization to navigate at sea on the basis of Belgian regulations.
Art. 4. Subject to the provisions of Article VII of the CLC Convention, any ship, regardless of its place of registration, which enters or leaves a port on Belgian territory or arrives at a terminal located off the coast in the Belgian territorial sea or leaves it or which enters or leaves the Belgian territorial waters, is covered by insurance or other financial guarantee corresponding to the requirements of paragraph 1^er Article VII of the CLC Convention, if it actually carries more than 2,000 tons of hydrocarbons as defined in the CLC Convention in bulk as cargo.
As evidence, the vessel must have a valid certificate issued by the competent authority in accordance with Article VII of the CLC Convention.
Subject to the provisions of Article 7 of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention, any vessel of a gross tonnage greater than 1,000, irrespective of its place of registration, which touches or leaves a port of Belgian territory or a offshore facility located in the Belgian territorial sea or which enters or leaves the Belgian territorial waters, is covered by insurance or other financial guarantee corresponding to the requirements of paragraph 1^er Article 7 of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention.
As evidence, the vessel must have a valid certificate issued by the competent authority in accordance with Article 7 of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention.
The certificates referred to in this Article shall be on board the vessel and shall be submitted to it, with the exception of the Soute Hydrocarbon Certificate, if the vessel is flying the flag of a State that has made a declaration in accordance with Article 7, paragraph 13, of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention and if the existence of the Belgian Hydrocarbon Certificate issued by that State appears directly on the basis of an electronic register held by that State.
CHAPTER III. - Provisions relating to the issuance of certificates
Art. 5. Subject to the provisions of Article VII of the CLC Convention and Article 7 of the Soute Hydrocarbons Convention, the King may set the conditions for the issuance of the certificates referred to in these conventions, as well as all the rules relating to the issuance and validity of the certificates.
Art. 6. Retributions are due for the issuance of a Insurance Certificate, a copy of a Insurance Certificate, a copy of a related certificate from the insurer or the other person providing the financial guarantee or a negative certificate, the amounts of which are fixed by the King.
CHAPTER IV. - Expiry of Insurance Certificates
Art. 7. § 1^er. A Insurance Certificate as referred to in section 3 shall cease to be valid:
1° where an amendment takes place in the data mentioned in the certificate in respect of the vessel, the registered owner or the insurer or the other person providing the financial guarantee;
2° where, for any reason, insurance or financial guarantee ceases to be valid;
3° where the vessel is no longer authorized to beat the Belgian flag or is no longer registered in the Belgian Ships Register or the Belgian Nueco charter Register or in the case of an inland navigation vessel referred to in Article 3, paragraph 3, where the authorization to navigate at sea ceases to be valid;
4° where the insurer or other person providing the financial guarantee is no longer authorized to carry out these activities.
§ 2. In an exhalation case in accordance with § 1^er, the owner mentioned on the expired certificate must immediately return the expired certificate to the authority that issued the certificate.
CHAPTER V. - Surveillance and Criminal Provisions
Art. 8. The monitoring of ships to ensure compliance with this Act and the Conventions of Liability shall be carried out by the officers responsible for the control of navigation designated for this purpose, and in relation to ships flying Belgian flag also by Belgian consular officials abroad.
The officers responsible for the control of navigation designated for this purpose shall have the right to arrest any vessel that is not equipped with valid certificates prescribed by this Act or to refuse access to a Belgian port or to Belgian territorial waters. Except in urgent cases, the shipping control officers designated for this purpose shall not exercise the right, as provided in this paragraph, to foreign vessels until they have informed the consul of the country whose ship is flying the flag. In urgent cases, this information is communicated immediately after action has been taken. The vessel shall be released as soon as the vessel is provided with valid certificates prescribed by this Act, to the satisfaction of the navigation control officers designated for that purpose.
The Belgian consular official is entitled to prohibit the departure of a Belgian flag vessel if the vessel is not equipped with valid certificates prescribed by this Act. The departure ban is lifted as long as the vessel has valid certificates prescribed by this Act to the satisfaction of the Belgian consular official.
In the event of a refusal of a departure permit or when a ship has been detained or has been denied access to a Belgian port or to Belgian territorial waters, the Navigation Control Service or, where applicable, the Belgian consular official shall prepare a substantiated report, a copy of which shall be sent, within 24 hours after the decision, to the master or owner of the ship.
Within fifteen days after the receipt of a copy of the written record in accordance with this article, appeal may be appealed against the decisions referred to in this article. The appeal is filed by the master or owner of the ship, by a request addressed to the Commissioner of the State to the Marine Investigation Board and containing the means invoked. The appeal is not suspensive.
Art. 9. The person who operates a ship without all valid certificates prescribed by the Conventions of Responsibility or by this Act being on board or available in an electronic registry in accordance with Article 4 shall be liable to a fine of 5,000 euros to 1,000,000 euros.
Compared to Belgian flag vessels, paragraph 1^er is applied wherever the offence is committed.
Compared to vessels flying another flag than the Belgian flag, paragraph 1^er is applied on vessels that affect or leave a port of Belgian territory or a offshore facility located in the Belgian territorial sea or that enter or leave Belgian territorial waters.
All provisions of Book I^er the Criminal Code, including Chapter VII and Article 85, is applicable to offences under this Act.
Without prejudice to the powers of judicial police officers, officials responsible for the control of navigation designated for this purpose and the Federal Police for the Water Police are responsible for investigating and detecting offences under this Act.
If the Federal Water Police finds violations under this Act, the Navigation Control Service shall be promptly informed of these violations and shall take appropriate action.
CHAPTER VI. - Amendments
Art. 10. Sections 4 to 14 of the Act of 20 July 1976 approving and implementing the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, and the Annex, made in Brussels on 29 November 1969, amended by the laws of 11 April 1989, 10 August 1998 and 3 May 1999, are repealed.
Art. 11. The Royal Decree of 10 March 1977 concerning the enforcement of certain provisions of the Act of 20 July 1976, which approved and enforced the International Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Due to Hydrocarbon Pollution, and the Annex, made in Brussels on 29 November 1969, amended by the Royal Decrees of 4 April 1987 and 20 July 2000, is repealed.
Art. 12. The Ministerial Order of March 28, 1977, which carried out the Royal Decree of March 10, 1977, was repealed.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels, 19 December 2012.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of the North Sea,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
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Notes
(1) Session 2011-2012.
House of Representatives:
Parliamentary documents. - Bill No. 53-2395/001.
(2) Session 2012-2013.
House of Representatives:
Parliamentary documents. - Report, No. 53-2395/002. - Text corrected by the commission, No. 53-2395/003. - Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate, No. 53-2395/004.
Full report. - 28 and 29 November 2012.
Senate:
Parliamentary documents. - Project referred to by the Senate, No. 5-1861/1. - Report, No. 5-1861/2. - Decision not to amend, No. 5-1861/3.
Annales. - 13 December 2012.