Merchant Shipping Act 1974

14 Foreign action affecting shipping. U.K.

[F1 (1) The Secretary of State may exercise the powers conferred by this section if he is satisfied that—

(a) a foreign government, or

(b) persons purporting to exercise governing authority over any territory outside the United Kingdom, or

(c) any agency or authority of a foreign government or of such persons,

have adopted, or propose to adopt, measures or practices concerning or affecting any shipping services which—

(i) are damaging or threaten to damage the shipping or trading interests of the United Kingdom, or

(ii) are damaging or threaten to damage the shipping or trading interests of another State,

and, in the latter case, the Secretary of State is satisfied that action under this section would be in fulfilment of the obligations of the United Kingdom to that other State or would be appropriate in view of any arrangements made between Her Majesty’s Government and the government of that other State.]

(2) The Secretary of State may by order make provision for requiring persons in the United Kingdom carrying on any trade or business to provide the Secretary of State with all such information as he may require for the purpose of enabling him—

(a) to determine what further action to take under this section, and

(b) to ensure compliance with any orders or directions made or given under this section.

[F2 (3) The Secretary of State may by order provide for—

(a) regulating the provision of any shipping services and the rates, fares or other amounts which may or must be charged for providing those services;

(b) regulating—

(i) the admission and departure of ships to and from United Kingdom ports,

(ii) the nature of the shipping services they may be used to provide (whether by reference to the cargoes or passengers they may carry or otherwise), and

(iii) the loading or unloading of cargoes, the embarkation or disembarkation of passengers, or the doing of other things in connection with the provision of any shipping services;

(c) regulating the making and implementation of agreements (including charter-parties) whose subject matter relates directly or indirectly to the provision of any shipping services, and requiring such agreements to be subject to the Secretary of State’s approval in such cases as he may specify;

(d) imposing charges in respect of ships which enter United Kingdom ports in connection with the provision of any shipping services;

(e) imposing, in pursuance of any Community obligation, such tax or duty payable by such persons and in such circumstances as the Secretary of State may specify;

and in this subsection “regulating”, except in relation to the rates, fares or other amounts which may or must be charged as mentioned in paragraph (a) above, includes imposing a prohibition.]

(a) regulating the carriage of goods in ships and the rates which may or must be charged for carrying them;

(b) regulating the admission and departure of ships to and from United Kingdom ports, the cargoes they may carry, and the loading or unloading of cargoes;

(c) regulating the making and implementation of agreements (including charter-parties) whose subject matter relates directly or indirectly to the carriage of goods by sea, and requiring such agreements to be subject to the Secretary of State’s approval in such cases as he may specify;

(d) imposing charges in respect of ships which enter United Kingdom ports to load or unload cargo,

[F3 and in this subsection “regulating”, except in relation to the rates which may or must be charged for carrying goods, includes imposing a prohibition].

(4) In a case falling within [F4 subsection (1)(i)]above, an order under subsection (3) above shall specify the measures or practices which in the opinion of the Secretary of State are damaging or threaten to damage shipping or trading interests of the United Kingdom.

(5) An order under this section may authorise the Secretary of State to give directions to any person for the purposes of the order:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply for the purpose of recovering [F5 any charge, tax or duty imposed under subsection (3)(d) or (e) above].

(6) Any order or direction made or given under this section—

(a) may be either general or special, and may be subject to such conditions or exceptions as the Secretary of State specifies (including conditions and exceptions operating by reference to the giving or withholding of his approval for any course of action);

(b) may be in terms that require compliance either generally or only in specified cases;

(c) may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order, or as the case may be, a subsequent direction, so made or given,

and an order made pursuant to this section shall be contained in a statutory instrument.

(7) Before the Secretary of State makes an order under this section he shall consult such representatives of the shipping or trading interests of the United Kingdom, and such other persons, as appear to him appropriate.

(8) If a person discloses any information which has been furnished to or obtained by him under this section, or in connection with the execution of this section, he shall, unless the disclosure is made—

(a) with the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained, or

(b) in connection with the execution of this section, or

(c) for the purposes of any legal proceedings arising out of this section or of any report of such proceedings, [F6 or

(d) in pursuance of a Community obligation to a Community institution],

be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F7 level 5 on the standard scale].

(9) A person who—

(a) refuses or wilfully neglects to furnish any information which he is required to furnish under this section, or

(b) in furnishing any such information makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular,

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F8 [F7 level 4 on the standard scale]in the case of an offence under paragraph (a) of this subsection and not exceeding [F7 level 5 on the standard scale]in the case of an offence under paragraph (b) of this subsection].

(10) A person who wilfully contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of an order or direction made or given pursuant to this section, other than a provision requiring him to give any information, shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction to a fine of not more than £5,000;

(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine;

and where the order or direction requires anything to be done, or not to be done, by, to or on a ship, and the requirement is not complied with, the owner and master of the ship are each to be regarded as wilfully failing to comply, without prejudice to the liability of anyone else.

[F9 (11) In this section—

(a) “foreign government” means the government of any State other than the United Kingdom ;

(b) references to an agency or authority of a foreign government or of such persons as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above include references to any undertaking appearing to the Secretary of State to be, or to be acting on behalf of, an undertaking which is in effect owned or controlled (directly or indirectly) by a State other than, or by a territory outside, the United Kingdom;

(c) “shipping services” means services provided by means of ships, and includes the carriage of goods or passengers by sea, cable laying, dredging, and services provided by offshore support vessels; and

(d) references to ships are to ships of any registration.

(11A) A recital in an order under this section that the persons who have adopted, or propose to adopt, the measures or practices in question are—

(a) a foreign government, or

(b) such persons as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above, or

(c) an agency or authority of a foreign government or of such persons,

shall be conclusive.]

(12) Schedule 4 to this Act shall have effect for supplementing this section, which in that Schedule is called “the principal section”.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 14(1) substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1988 (c. 12, SIF 111), s. 38(2), (with s. 58(4), Sch. 8 para. 1)

F2 S. 14(3) substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1988 (c. 12, SIF 111), s. 38(3), (with s. 58(4), Sch. 8 para. 1)

F3 Words inserted by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), s. 40(1)(a)

F4 Words substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1988 (c. 12, SIF 111), s. 38(4), (with s. 58(4), Sch. 8 para. 1)

F5 Words substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1988 (c. 12, SIF 111), s. 38(5), (with s. 58(4), Sch. 8 para. 1)

F6 Words inserted by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), s. 40(1)(b)

F7 Words substituted by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), s. 46; (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), s. 289G and (N.I.) S.I. 1984/703 (N.I. 3), art. 5

F8 Words substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), Sch. 6 Pt. VI para. 19

F9 S. 14(11)(11A) substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1988 (c. 12, SIF 111), s. 38(6), (with s. 58(4), Sch. 8 para. 1)