Maritime body eyes nine new states to widen scope

Mombasa. Intergovernmental Standing Committee on Shipping (ISCOS), one of the oldest maritime bodies in Africa, has opened its membership scope to expand its territorial borders across the continent as it targets more countries within Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.

The body, which was established in 1967 to take care of members’ common Shipping, Maritime and Logistics interest, had an initial membership of four founding States of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

A report carried in ISCOS Shipping & Logistics magazine published last week, said the Secretariat now eyes nine new members in Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Ethiopia, Somalia and Seychelles, bringing the committee’s membership to 13 countries.

The decision, the report stated, was arrived at during the recent 6th Assembly of Ministers held recently, in the Northern Tanzanian city of Mwanza.

To facilitate this process, the Assembly of Ministers approved the Coordination Committee’s proposal to invite ministers from the Eastern, Central and Southern Africa regions which are currently none members of ISCOS to the subsequent meetings of the Assembly as observers.

The Assembly urged the Secretariat to continue pursuing the enlisting into membership of other eligible member states.

“Our membership is now open to other states in the Eastern, Central and Southern African states and any other states as may be determined by the Assembly as full member category,” members stated in a joint communiqué signed by the Assembly of Ministers.

Since the year 2000, ISCOS has been instrumental in the formation of the national Shippers’ Councils in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, serving as umbrella bodies representing cargo owners, advocating for a reliable logistics environment for better trade competitiveness.

The decision to establish Shippers’ Councils was borne largely out of frustrations and surcharges faced by the shippers doing business through the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam and those using the transport services available in the region.

After registering a success in the initial four countries the Secretariat embarked on formation of Shippers’ Councils in countries outside its membership such as Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Malawi with an equally enviable success.

ISCOS’ next target is to establish the councils in DR Congo, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Somalia and Seychelles.

This was to prepare the Secretariat’s next assignment of recruiting future members.

The Mwanza meeting was chaired by Mr Isack Kamwelwe, Tanzania’s Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, who was also the chairman of the ISCOS Assembly of Ministers.

The meeting was attended by Mr Bagiire Aggrey Henry, Minister of State for Transport, Uganda; Ambassador Dan Kazungu, Kenya’s High Commissioner to Tanzania who represented James Macharia, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works, Ambassador Benson Keith Chali, Zambia’s High Commissioner to Tanzania who was also the meeting’s Rapporteur representing MutotweKafwaya, Minister of Transport and Communication, Zambia.

Also in attendance were Permanent and Principal Secretaries of the member state, representatives of maritime administrations in the ISCOS member states, port authorities, terminal operators, clearing and forwarding agencies, shippers councils, transit transport corridor authorities, various international organizations and stakeholders.