1. 保赔协会是否会对涉及伊朗的运输作出承保的确认声明？
由于入会规则中，明确列明对于伊朗制裁的风险是属于除外责任，保赔协会也因此往往不会对涉伊朗航次是否承保作出肯定的答复。一些协会可能会根据会员提供的信息以”低风险” 或”高风险” 来描述涉及伊朗的航次；而很多协会则可能推荐律师和专家来进行调查，在未有货物的详细全面信息、以及来自律师和专家的积极法律意见之前都不能够作出承保的确认。除非律师和专家的意见是明确且积极的，协会将不能够作出此种承保确认。
2. 为什么伊朗制裁法律会影响那些所有人和管理人都与欧盟或美国无关的船舶？
对于和欧盟或者美国毫无联系相关的船东一方，伊朗制裁法律可能不会直接适用于船方。但保赔协会若是在相关制裁法律的适用范围之内的话，那么伊朗制裁法律将会适用于船方的保赔协会。因此在保赔保险之下，船东有义务恪尽职守证明货物及涉及伊朗的航次是合法的。船东应当遵从协会指导如何去证明已经尽到了恪尽职守的责任。如上文所述，即使船东已经完全遵从了协会的指示证明其已做到恪尽职守，除非律师和专家的意见毫不含糊，协会可能仍旧不能确认承保的问题。
3. 船东应当向协会和专家们提供何种资料与信息？
不同的情况可能会有不同的要求，我司在此根据实践给出以下建议，但最终以协会意见为准：
- 以下相关方的身份信息：租家、货方（托运人、收货人、买方、卖方、制造商以及在伊朗的终端使用者），尽管实践中不常见但可能涉及的相关方（伊朗港口运营者，伊朗的港口代理）等。
建议请律师查看上述实体是否在最新的美国及/或欧盟被制裁的公司/人黑名单上。若向这些被制裁的实体付款将会违反相关的伊朗制裁法律。
- 详尽的货物信息及其最终用途
由协会指派的专家检验师可以根据船方提供的合适的信息判断出货物到底是什么以及可能的用途；然后律师会根据美国及欧盟的法律来判断承运这些货物是否违法。
- 如果货物很有可能被相关法律所禁止，那么就需要深入调查货物运输是否持有政府当局颁发的有效证书或许可证来声明这些货物并没有违反法律，或者/以及(当美国相关法律不适用时)欧盟伊朗制裁法律第10条的例外情况可以适用于此货物买卖合同。
1. 协会通代可协助调查这些许可证或证书是否有效，但是协会通代的意见也不能将非法的货物变成合乎法律，许可证或者证书也不 能证明货物本身是合法的。船东还必须确保证书或许可证与提单中记载的承运货物相符。我们推荐船东在承运之前将相关的许可证或证书转呈至协会，以获得协会的专业指导。
2. 对于欧盟伊朗制裁法律下的例外免责情况，可以理解为：如果这些货物属于附录VI中的禁止货物（检验师和律师可以对此作出意见），那么为了履行（1）在2010年10月27日之前订立的有关于原油和天然气及其生产、提炼及液化天然气的设备货物买卖合同，或者（2）在2012年3月24日之前订立的有关于石化工业的设备货物买卖合同，为执行主合同而必须的相关”辅助合同” ，适用第10条的例外条款，但必须提前至少20天向成员国的主管当局提出。
但法律专家也不能确定如何解读此第10条例外条款中的”提前通知” 的意义，并且第10条所指的”成员国” 含义也并不清晰。法律专家也会要求船东提供相关的贸易合同进行调查。
如果相关的航次或者保赔协会/保险人与美国有联系，那么美国的伊朗制裁法律也会适用。与对一定日期之前的贸易合同可适用例外条款的上述欧盟伊朗制裁法律相比，美国的相关法律似乎没有类似的规定。
总的来说，船东需要提供以下货物的相关文件来进行货物是否合法的调查：
提单；
出口国政府机构签发的证书或许可证；
货物买卖合同；
商业发票。
4. 船东还应如何保护自身？
船东还应当从租家或者货方取得保函，由租家或货方补偿船东挂靠伊朗港口所产生的任何风险和后果。保函签发方的财务能力应当进行谨慎确认，这相当于交易对手风险。若需要签发保函，我司推荐从律师处获得对保函措辞的意见。
5. 实践中的常见困难：
- 租家不提供上文第三点中提及的信息和文件。
- 提供的文件相互之间并不相符，例如出口国政府机构签发的许可证或证书上的货物细节与商业发票、买卖合同所记载的有出入。
- 若上文所提及的2010年10月27日前或2012年3月24日前签订的合同并未在签订后的合理时间内履行，那就有必要取得合理的解释以及支持性的文件。
- 货物的性质可能使专家检验师都很难去判断这些货物是否会用于非法的用途，例如技术先进的工程货物。
请注意以上内容尽供参考之用，并不认为是对伊朗制裁法律问题的全面解释。如果贵司准备签订货物运输合同运往伊朗港口，请保持高度谨慎，我司亦会帮助船方向协会寻求建议。
以上由 ANDREW LIU & CO.,LTD 编译，应以英文为准！
详细信息请参阅附件。
Iran Sanctions – FAQs
1. Would the P&I clubs provide confirmation that cover is not prejudiced during the voyage?
The clubs could not be in a position to confirm whether the cover is prejudiced during the voyage as per exclusion of Sanction Risks in their rule books. Some clubs may describe the voyage of “high risk” or “low risk” based on the information provided; many clubs would recommend lawyers and experts to investigate and may not even able to confirm the cover issue until full details and positive legal advice from the lawyers and experts. Unless the advice of the lawyers and experts are unequivocal, clubs would not be able to confirm the cover issue.
2. Why would sanctions apply to a vessel whose ownership, management has no connection with EU or the US?
The relevant sanctions might not directly apply to the ship owners having no connection with EU or US but the sanctions do apply to their P&I insurers/clubs located in EU or US, who are subject to relevant sanctions. It is the owners’ burden under the insurance to exercise due diligence to prove the cargo and the voyage are lawful. Owners would usually be guided by their P&I clubs what they need do to show they have exercised due diligence. As advised, even if the owners have fully followed the Club’s recommendations to show they have exercised due diligence, the clubs may still not be able to confirm the cover issue unless the lawyer and experts’ replies and opinions are unequivocal.
3. What kind of documents or information should the owners provide to the club and the experts?
It may differ from case to case subject to the club’s opinion, but we hereby advise as follows per our practice:
- Identity of the charterers, cargo interests (shippers, consignees, buyers, sellers, manufacturers and end users in Iran), other possibly related parties though rarely checked in our practice (Iranian port operators, Iranian port agents) etc.
It is recommended to have lawyers instructed to check out whether these entities are in the updated US and/or EU list of sanctioned companies/people. Payment made to the sanctioned entities will be a breach of sanctions.
- Precise nature and ultimate use of the cargoes
The expert surveyors appointed by the clubs could probably determine what the cargo actually is and intended use; lawyers could then check out whether the cargo is a sanctioned cargo or not according to US and EU sanctions.
- If the cargoes are probably prohibited by the sanctions, further investigations would need to be made whether the carriage of the cargo might be lawful if there are valid certificates or licenses are issued by governmental authorities stating the cargo are not in breach of sanctions and/or the transaction contracts of the cargoes falls within the exemption of Article 10 of EU sanctions (when US sanctions do not apply).
1. Local correspondents of the clubs may help investigate the validity of issued licenses or certificates, even though an opinion from the club’s local correspondent would not change what is an unlawful cargo to a lawful cargo and the licenses/certificates are not proof that the cargo is lawful. Owner should also ensure the certificates or licenses are consistent with cargoes carried on board as per the bills of lading. We recommend the owners to let the club have a copy of the license or certificate before the carriage for their comments.
2. Exemption under EU sanctions: If the cargoes falls within Annex VI, which is necessarily to be advised by the surveyors and lawyers, and (1) this is a pre-October 27th 2010 trade contract concerned with equipments for crude oil and gas, production of crude oil and natural gas, refining, liquefaction of natural gas; or (2) pre-March 24th 2012 trade contract concerned with equipments for petrochemical industry, the exemption of Article 10 could then be applied to the concerned carriage which might be regarded as ancillary contracts necessary for execution of such contracts, provided that notification has been made at least 20 working days in advance to the competent authority of the Member State.
However legal experts are uncertain on the interpretation of Article 10 to fit as to the meaning of advance notification and the member state referred to in Article 10, is not clearly specified. Legal experts may also require provision of relevant trade contracts for investigation.
If the voyage or the P&I clubs/insurers have connections with US, then US sanctions would be applied. In this case, there seem no such exemptions for carriage of equipments cargoes for dated trade contract mentioned above to be lawful under the US sanctions.
To conclude, owners need to provide following documents of involved cargoes to investigate whether the cargoes are sanctioned or not:
Bills of lading;
Certificate or licenses issued by the exporting Governmental body;
Sales contracts;
Commercial invoices.
4. What else should the owners do to protect themselves?
Letter of Indemnity (LOI) should also be obtained from the charterers or the cargo side, indemnifying the owners against all of the risks and consequences of permitting the vessel to call at Iranian ports. The financial status of the LOI issuer must be verified as this amounts to a counterparty risk. We recommend the owner to seek specific legal advice on the wording of the LOI from lawyers.
5. Problems usually encountered:
- Charterers do not provide all the information and documents summarized in Point 3.
- Documents may not tally with each other such as the details of cargoes in the certificates or licenses issued by the exporting Governmental body may not be exactly the same as the details of cargo in the commercial invoices or trade contracts.
- Explanations together with supporting documentation why a trade contract concluded pre 27th October 2010 or pre 24th March 2012 have not been timely performed within a reasonable time after conclusion of the contract.
- The nature of cargoes such as technically advanced project cargoes make it impossible for even an expert surveyor to determine whether the cargoes could be used for a sanctioned purpose.
Please be kindly reminded that the above contents shall not be considered as all conclusive. If you are going to fix carriage of goods to Iranian ports, please take extreme care and we are glad to help seek advice from the club.
See attached file : ALCO20120060 Iran Sanctions – FAQs.pdf
