Office of Public Sector Information

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Public Health (Ships) Regulations 1979(9) (“the principal Regulations”) which provide for public health control of ships arriving at or leaving ports in England and Wales.

The Regulations apply in relation to England only. They come into force on 15th June 2007, when the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) of the World Health Organization come into effect. (The full text of the IHR is available on the WHO website, www.who.int/est/ihr/IHRWHA58_3-en.pdf).

The Regulations implement in England provisions of the IHR on ship sanitation certificates (note regulations 17, 3 and 33) and otherwise amend or update the principal Regulations. In particular the Regulations provide for health authority functions under the principal Regulations to become local authority functions and alter provisions about charging by local authorities (regulation 25).

A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from Jenny Harper, at Wellington House, 133-135 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG, Jenny.Harper@dh.gsi.gov.uk.