REGULATIONS ON SHIPPING AGENTS
Official Gazette dated: 31.10.2005
And Numbered: 25982
PART ONE
The Purpose, Scope, Grounds and Definitions
The Purpose
Article 1- The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that the shipping agents act efficiently and regularly according to the applicable legislation and the international navigation rules, to develop a high level of professional training and supervision for the supply of efficient services, to encourage the shipping agents that are strong and stable in terms of financial structure in operation and to set out the qualification terms and service principles and to arrange the permits.
The Scope
Article 2- These regulations pertain to the natural and legal persons established according to the Turkish Commercial Code dated 29/06/1956 and numbered 6762 and registered under the Chambers of Maritime Commerce, engaging in activities as shipping agent and the staff employed by the same.
Grounds
Article 3- These regulations are issued as based on article (2), amended paragraph (g) Decree Law on the Foundation and Duties of the Maritime Undersecretariat dated 10/08/1993 and numbered 491.
Definitions
Article 4- The following definitions shall have the meanings described below herein:
The administration means the Maritime Undersecretariat,
Shipping agent means any commercial enterprise arranging and causing the transportation of cargo/passengers, providing information, preparing for and carrying out the sale/purchase or lease contracts for and on behalf of the ship owners, masters, operators or charterers of the vessels by the agreements they enter into, carrying out all the services included in the scope of activities and protecting rights of the represented natural and legal persons against third persons and parties, and fulfilling the relevant liabilities before such persons and parties duly acting for profit,
Responsible manager means any member of the staff authorized to carry out any business and legal operations included within the scope of activities on behalf of the natural or legal person holding the agent certificate and to use the title of a shipping agent,
Authorized staff of the shipping agent means the staff duly appointed to follow up business and operations on behalf of the responsible manager of the shipping agent before the ports, customs offices, coast health and safety administrations and in registered office and branches of the shipping agent,
Agency agreement
means any power of attorney issued or any contract entered into by the ship owner, operator or charterer for any route with scheduled voyages;
means any contracts and any power issued by the ship owner, operator or charterer issued directly or via communications means such as fax, e-mail etc. for the routes with unscheduled voyages;
Sub agency means any of the agent’s services provided for and on behalf of the main agent appointed as the vessel’s agent by the ship owner, master, operator or the charterer,
Registration means any record about the vessel’s agent and branches and staff thereof maintained by the staff of the Administration under predetermined procedures and rules,
Vessel means any naval vehicle setting out with any apparatus other than oar regardless of name, tonnage and purpose of use,
Operator means any legal or natural person in possession of a vessel, whether owned or otherwise, operating the vessel in technical and/or commercial terms,
Computer system means the computer system integrated through local or wide area network covering the center and district offices of the Undersecretariat,
Maritime Chamber of Commerce means any of Istanbul and Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean, Black Sea Regional Maritime Chambers of Commerce and Mersin Maritime Chamber of Commerce.
PART TWO
Authorization Certificate and Qualifications
Authorization Certificate
Article 5- The shipping agents shall operate under a business permit to be issued by the Administration and a Shipping Agent Authorization Certificate to be issued within this framework, provided that the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code shall be reserved.
The natural and legal persons intending to receive Authorization Certificate shall apply the Administration by filling in the Application Form given in APPENDIX 1 and attaching the certificates listed in APPENDIX 2 to the form. These applications shall be concluded by the Administration within a month and the authorization certificate is issued for the qualifying ones. The format for the authorization certificate shall be determined by the Administration.
The qualifications sought in those to receive authorization certificate
Article 6- In order to receive an authorization certificate,
a) Natural persons should:
1) be a citizen of the Republic of Turkey,
2) be qualified to employ civil rights,
3) not be convicted for any crimes committed against the entity of the state as well as infamous crimes such as petty or major embezzlement, conspiracy for fraud, bribery, corruption, theft, fraudulent acts, forgery, legal fraud and fake bankruptcy or the crimes of smuggling, corrupt practices in state tenders and purchases and disclosure of state secrets, regardless of having served period in jail or having been excused from serving, except for the crimes of negligence and those listed below as well as the postponed penalties,
b) The legal persons should:
1) be one of the companies listed in Turkish Commercial Code dated 29/6/1956 and numbered 6762 and be founded according to due procedures,
2) specify the shipping agent among the activities in the articles of association,
3) not have any founder shareholders, members of the board of directors, responsible manager and any vice-managers convicted of the crimes and penalties given in paragraph (3) of this clause.
The qualifications for the authorized staff of the shipping agent
Article 7- The authorized staff of the shipping agent should:
a)
1) be qualified according to paragraph (a) of article 6,
2) be entitled to become qualified staff of shipping agent under article 17,
3) have an ID document issued for him under article 18 of these regulations,
b) have graduated from minimum a high school or an equivalent school.
Responsible manager
Article 8- The shipping agents should employ responsible managers in their workplaces. The person to be appointed should qualify as follows:
a) Having the qualifications provided in paragraph (a) of article 6 in these regulations,
b) Having been employed as an authorized member of the staff in a shipping agent for minimum 3 years as entered in the registry.
The people, for whom the agent authorization certificate shall be issued, should also qualify as provided above if they declare that they will act as the responsible managers.
The shipping agents may also employ vice-managers to assist the responsible managers in their workplaces. However, the vice-manager to be appointed as such should also qualify in the same manner as the responsible manager.
The qualities of the workplace
Article 9- The workplace should have the quality to serve for the shipping agent activities and should be equipped with means of communication proper for such activities such as the computers connected to internet, phones and faxes.
Branches
Article 10- The shipping agents may open branches locally or abroad in a temporary or permanent manner. Each local branch is issued a Shipping Agent Branch Authorization Certificate by the Administration individually. The conditions and foundation principles applicable for the shipping agents shall also be applicable for the branches, except for the necessity to employ responsible manager. However, minimum one authorized member of the staff should be appointed for each branch.
The branches specify the headquarters, under which they operate, in their letterhead papers, seals and stamps.
PART THREE
Responsibility, Prohibitions and Supervision
Responsibility
Article 11 – The shipping agents:
a) have to provide their services according to the international maritime rules, the relevant laws, regulations and other legislation and to observe the business ethics and professional integrity.
b) may not appoint any agents not holding a Shipping Agent Authorization Certificate as their subagents. The liability of the subagent shall be restricted to the power of attorney issued by the main agent.
The owners or the managers of the shipping agents and the authorized senior staff of the legal persons shall inform the Administration in writing of any changes in the information provided in the application form, appendices thereto and authorization certificates within thirty days as of the date of such change.
Prohibitions
Article 12- The shipping agents may not:
a) engage in agent’s activities before receiving an authorization certificate or in conflict with the conditions given in such certificate.
b) employ any responsible manager, vice-manager and authorized member of the staff not having ID papers.
c) engage in misleading and untrue advertisement and promotional activities.
d) engage in piloting, salvage tug operations and docking services under any manner directly or indirectly for the vessels they represent as well as loading and discharging services unless specifically contained in their agreements.
The organizations operating ports may not prevent agents other than those that they own or have interest in to engage in agent’s activities freely in their ports.
Supervision
Article 13- The administration shall always be authorized to supervise the shipping agents to determine whether they act according to these regulations or not by means of the staff to be authorized for such purposes.
Article 14 shall be applicable for the agents that are found to be in contradiction to the provisions of these regulations as a result of the supervision. Moreover, the Administration shall send the file issued for such agents including the found contradictory acts and any action taken as a result thereof to the relevant maritime chamber of commerce in order to enable the due professional penalty and sanctions to be imposed under the Code dated 1/6/2004 and numbered 5174.
PART FOUR
Cancellation of the Authorization Certificate and Results Thereof
Cancellation
Article 14- Those shipping agents
a) that are found to have altered the authorization certificate or have declared any misleading and untrue piece of information in the application form or appendices thereto shall be warned by the administration and the matter is informed to the authorized organizations in order to enable due actions to be taken against the representatives of the applicant (natural or legal person). The certificates of the agents, who fail to act according to the warning, shall be cancelled.
b) found to fall in one of the categories below will see their authorization certificates cancelled:
1) Those who become unqualified according to article 6 of these regulations,
2) Those who act in contradiction to
Subparagraph (a), paragraph 1, article 11 of these regulations and repeat the same act in spite of the warning in this regard.
Other provisions of these regulations and fail to make up for such act within thirty days following the warning in this regard.
3) Those receiving more than 3 warnings in last one year.
4) Those disqualified temporarily by the relevant maritime chambers of commerce for being a member.
5) Those informing the Administration of terminating activities by their free wills.
Reactivation
Article 15- The agent, whose authorization certificate is cancelled on grounds given in subparagraphs (1), (2) and (3) of paragraph (b) of article 14, shall not be authorized to act as an agent again before another 2 years.
The provisions for receiving the authorization certificate for the first time shall be duly applicable for the agents that would like to receive authorization certificates again at the end of such period.
Prohibition from engaging in activities
Article 16- The activities of the shipping agents engaging in activities without authorization certificate and the ones, whose authorization certificates are cancelled under these regulations, are immediately terminated by the senior public administration officer on demand by the port authority and the judicial bodies are immediately informed of the matter in order to ensure that due actions are taken against the same.
PART FIVE
Certificate Program and ID Papers
Certificate Program
Article 17- The candidates, who wish to become authorized staff for shipping agents, should participate in the training seminars to be organized minimum once a year and should pass the examinations to be taken following such seminars. The people who pass the exams to be taken in this manner shall be certified by the Administration.
People employed as authorized staff in a shipping agent should participate in the renewal seminars, which shall be organized four times a year, for minimum one every four years. The period for being able to attend the later renewal training seminars shall be four years following the date of the last training received. The ID papers of the people, who are found to have failed to attend the training programs organized under this provision, shall not be reissued. This provision shall also apply for the responsible managers and vice-managers.
Preparation of the training schedule, application thereof, the constitution of the exam commission, pricing and principles and procedures regarding the examinations, along with any other matters, shall be determined by the Training Commission for Shipping Agents. The training program and exam for the certificate, as duly set out by the commission, shall be realized by the Maritime Chambers of Commerce. The constitution and principles and procedures for operation of the Training Commission for Shipping Agents shall be regulated by the Administration.
ID paper
Article 18- The Administration shall issue an approved ID paper with photo for the people, who are entitled to act as responsible manager, vice-manager or authorized staff member for a shipping agent under the provisions of these regulations and who are employed in a shipping agent as entered in the registration, in order to prove that they are duly authorized to undertake agency activities for and on behalf of the shipping agent, by whom they are employed.
The ID paper shall be valid for 4 years. The ID papers, whose periods have expired, shall be renewed upon the application by the Administration.
In case a responsible manager, vice-manager or the authorized staff employed in a shipping agent leaves such position for any reason or the commission of such a person expires, then such person should deliver the ID paper to the relevant shipping agent. These ID papers are delivered by the relevant agents to the Administration or to the nearest port authority within seven days. A responsible manager, whose commission has expired and who is included within the scope of subparagraph 2 of article 8 of these regulations, should deliver their ID papers directly to the Administration or to the nearest port authority.