. Trade procedures Most IMO deliberations are concerned, one way or another, with tightening the regulatory framework for shipping. However, there is one Committee within the IMO structure, the Facilitation Committee, with the direct potential to reduce costs for shipowners. The Committee is responsible for one of IMO's less well known conventions, the 1965 Convention on the Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, and over the years ICS has played a full part in promoting the Convention's standards and recommendations. They establish a benchmark covering the many different forms and documents used to supply official national bodies with information related to the arrival, stay and departure of the vessel, its cargo and crew. As a result of this convention, much of the information supplied to national authorities throughout the world has now been standardised. An important item on the Committee's agenda has been the problem of stowaways. The IMO Assembly has endorsed guidelines on the handling of stowaways and ICS has been collecting information on stowaway cases to determine high risk ports. It is only by amassing such data that pressure can be put on countries to address port security. The next task is to consider whether the guidelines, which have already proved useful in addressing individual stowaway cases, should be developed to convention status. In the area of Customs issues, there is a balance to be struck between enforcing national legislation and ensuring compliance with international commitments on the one hand, and the commercial desire to facilitate the movement of goods on the other. ICS recognises the formalities required to conform to official requirements but believes that much can be done to ensure that these responsibilities can be accomplished in a manner consistent with efficient international trade procedures. Encouragingly, the World Trade Organization has now recognised that formalities related to the movement of goods can constitute a non-tariff barrier to trade and, in 1998, invited ICS and other organisations to address one of its conferences on this issue. The outcome of these discussions is awaited with interest. .