One of the ways in which countries seek to gain international commercial advantage is through the establishment of a low- or no-tax shipping registry, and there is somewhat of a competition between registries, in which low fees and efficiency of registration and inspection procedures are some of the weapons used to gain advantage. Respectability is another weapon, either because you have lots of it, or because you have almost none of it.
Top of the tree in terms of respectability is no doubt the UK; and, sad to say, at or near the bottom is Bolivia. The Republic of Bolivia is not the only land-locked country to have a shipping registry (Luxembourg shares that distinction, for instance) but it does win prizes as the most permissive registry on the planet.
The motive of the Bolivian Government, which for the most part has been acquiring a reputation for trade-friendly and free-market policies over the last few years, is simple: ever since Bolivia lost its seaboard to Chile in a war in 1879, regaining its maritime access has been a national obsession, and the shipping registry is seen as a surrogate for actual coastline.
After its creation as an independent state in 1825, Bolivia quickly developed a sizeable merchant fleet; but for 100 years after 1879 the country remained detached from the International Maritime Community. In the 1990s, however, President Banzer Suárez and Defence Minister Crespo Velasco undertook the creation of 'a serious and competitive international merchant marine'.
The Bolivian Shipping Registry advertises that:
"Bolivia operates at the real bottom end of the market," said Nik Winchester of the Seafarers International Research Centre at Cardiff University in Wales to the Wall Street Journal. "It's trying to provide the most regulatory-free environment it possibly can," he said, adding that Bolivia has shown a willingness to sell shipping registries to virtually all who ask, including shady entrepreneurs.
Countries such as the US which have caught Bolivian-flagged vessels engaging in various types of smuggling and unsafe procedures have now imposed stringent inspection rules on Bolivian ships. And, belatedly, the Bolivian government is responding, looking to improve the image of the Bolivian Flag and registry.
A new administration headed by President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada has established a Unit for International Shipping Registration under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence in order to improve the image and operations of the existing Registry. The office, says the Government, has been established 'to take over all of the issues related to the issuance of the Bolivian Flag Registration Certificates, in order to strengthen its capacity in merchant marine affairs and to have under its control all registry operations. All certificates issued by the former representative are valid until their expiration date, if and when they comply with all resolutions issued by IMO and the regulations of the Republic of Bolivia'.
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