Let’s take a look at what’s new in the Made in Italy decree for the pleasure boat sector
by Federico Santini*
Law no. 206/2023 on “Organic provisions for the valorisation, promotion and protection of Made in Italy”, which includes the so-called Nautical Package 2023, has been published in the Official Gazette. The “package”, which consists of four different simplification measures, intervenes in the text of the Recreational Boating Code (Legislative Decree no. 171/2005) and is the result of a fruitful dialogue between Confindustria Nautica and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.
A first amendment concerns article 58, “Duration of procedures”, where a new paragraph 1-ter is added, reducing the duration of the administrative procedure for the provisional registration of pleasure craft from 60 to 7 days. This is a very important and long-awaited innovation, obviously aimed at making the registration process in the Italian register quicker and smoother, thus making the Italian flag more competitive.
CONFINDUSTRIA NAUTICA HAS CARRIED OUT IMPORTANT WORK WITH THE ITALIAN LEGISLATURE. THIS HAS LED TO THE ADOPTION OF THE MADE IN ITALY DECREE.
A second innovation, equally important, concerns the method of registration in the Italian register of small pleasure craft (i.e. pleasure craft up to ten metres in length). In fact, the procedure for registering small pleasure craft in the Central Telematic Archive of Pleasure Craft (ATCN) is simplified in the sense that, pursuant to art. 27 of Legislative Decree no. 171/2005, as amended by Legislative Decree no. 206/2023, it is possible to proceed by means of a declaration certified by the Telematic Service for Motor Vehicles (STA), through which it is possible to self-certify the ownership of the boat that the owner intends to register.This option is intended to facilitate owners who wish to register under the Italian flag but who have lost or do not have a formal title of ownership. It should be noted that registration (ATCN) is not obligatory for small pleasure craft, but only an option. Exercising this option has the effect of applying to a small pleasure craft the same legal regime as that applicable to pleasure craft up to 24 metres in length, thus transforming it from a mere movable asset (not registered) to a movable asset subject to the rules applicable to registered assets (after registration). This difference in legal classification has certain consequences, particularly with regard to the circulation of rights relating to the asset, for which, among other things, the ownership of the boat must be proven by means of specific official documents (e.g. certificate of ownership or extract from the Pleasure Craft Registry) and the corresponding transfers must be recorded in the Registry.
The procedure for registering recreational craft in the Central Telematic Archive of Recreational Craft has been simplified with a declaration in lieu of an affidavit and a signature authenticated by the Automobile Telematic Service.
A third innovation, introduced in the new paragraph 2-bis of the same article 27, describes the documentation that must be produced in order for Italian owners of unregistered small pleasure craft to be able to sail in the territorial waters of other European Union countries, in particular those (such as Croatia, Slovenia and Greece) where registration is also required for boats less than 10 metres in length. This new provision allows Italian owners of unregistered small boats, when navigating in foreign territorial waters, to certify the ownership, nationality and technical data of the boat by means of the declaration of construction or importation (DCI) provided for in article 13, paragraph 5, of the Presidential Decree of 14 December 2018, no. 152 (Regulation on the SISTE – Central Telematic System of Recreational Boating), accompanied by the declaration in lieu of an affidavit, in this case also authenticated by a motorist’s telematic counter.
Paragraph 2-bis also stipulates that these documents must be kept on board during navigation in foreign territorial waters. The declaration will be made according to a model to be defined by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport by the end of February. Finally, the latest news on recreational boating, contained in Law 206/2023, concerns the creation of a fund of 3 million euros for the year 2024, to be paid in the form of contributions for the purchase of electric engines and the simultaneous scrapping of endothermic engines powered by fossil fuels. All this with a view to ecological transition and the reduction of polluting emissions. This fund will be implemented by means of a decree of the Ministry of the Economy and Made in Italy (Mimit) to be adopted in agreement with other ministries within sixty days of the entry into force of the Made in Italy law.
(What’s new in the Decree – Barchemagazine.com – April 2024)
