§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that the memorandum of understanding on port state control is strictly enforced to a uniform and high level throughout the EEC.
§ Mr. McLoughlinEach signatory country of the memorandum of understanding should achieve an annual total of inspections corresponding to 25 per cent. of the estimated number of individual foreign merchant ships which enter its ports during a 12-month period. The United Kingdom has always exceeded the 25 per cent. figure of inspection of foreign flag vessels since the memorandum became operational. United Kingdom representatives have always endorsed the efforts of the secretariat of the port state control committee to encourage signatories of the memorandum, which include all littoral EEC countries, to achieve the 25 per cent. inspection rate.