According to MPA Shipping Circular No. 26 of 2017, MPA will be progressively moving towards the full implementation of electronic certificates that are issued by the Administration commencing from December 2017.
With the aim to reduce the administrative burden on Administrations, Port State control officials, ships’ crew and other stakeholders caused by, amongst other reasons, the reliance on traditional paper certificates, the Facilitation Committee (FAL) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), at its 40th session approved the Guidelines for the use of electronic certificates (FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev.2) that provides guidance to facilitate the use and acceptance of electronic certificates.
The electronic certificates contain a Quick Response (QR) Code to facilitate the verification process. Relevant parties seeking to verify the authenticity and validity of the electronic certificates can do so by scanning the QR Code found in each electronic certificate.
Source: MPA
