ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK
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MARITIME ADMINISTRATION
Responsibility ofr the development of maritime activities lies with the Ministry of Communications and Works. Its authority and jurisdiction are exercised through the Department fo Merchant Shipping. The Department's activities include: registration of ships, administration and enforcement of the merchant shipping legislation, control of shipping and enforcement of international conventions, investigation of marine casualties, resolving labour disputes on board Cypriot ships, and training and certification of seafarers.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
The administration of the Register of Cyprus ships is governed by the Merchant Shipping (Registrations of Ships, Sales and Mortgages) Laws, 1963 to 1995 which are based on the British Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1954. The Merchant Shipping (Masters and Seamen) Laws, 1963 to 1984 and the Merchant Shipping (Fees and Taxing Provisions) Laws, 1992 to 1995 are the other principal merchant shipping laws.
The law geverning companies if The Companies Law, Chapter 113 of the Statute Laws of Cyprus, as amended. This law is modelled on the United Kingdom Companies Act, 1948.
Cyprus has ratified the major international conventions on maritime safety, prevention of pollution of the sea, training, certification and wachkeeping of seafarers and limitation of shipowners' civil liability in case of oil pollution damage and conventions on maritime labour. Appendix 1 provides a list of the treaties to which the Republic is a contracting party and for which the International Maritime Organization and the International Labour Organisation are the depositories. Cyprus is also party to the Convention on the High Seas, 1958 and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982.
Cyprus has also concluded a number of bilateral agreements on the avoidance of double taxation (see Appendix 2) and on co-operation in the field of merchant shipping (see Appendix 3) which provide, inter alia, fiscal advantages and incentives for effective tax planning and advantages in the engagement of foreign seafarers on board Cypriot ships.
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