The IMO Facilitation Committee approved circular, FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev.2 - Guidelines for the use of electronic certificates, at its 40th session in April 2016.
Section 7 of FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev.2 provides that port State control officers and other stakeholders should accept electronic certificates that contain the features identified in section 4.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO), has agreed that a certificate may be considered as "original" or "authentic" while containing an "authorized" electronically applied signature or stamp.
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