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The Cruising Association applauds the scrapping of the DEKPA
Greece has announced the scrapping of the DEKPA cruising permit in a draft bill for which consultations close on 27 February 2020. The bill will then be voted on and if passed become law within one month of being officially published.
The DEKPA was never a popular imposition with either the Greek authorities nor the visiting yachtsmen. Putting regulations in place with requirements that were sometimes difficult to meet. For example, being subject to hefty fines if documents weren’t stamped on due dates.
The Cruising Association (CA), Britain’s leading organisation for cruising sailors, has been campaigning since the advent of the E-TEPAI cruising tax, which effectively duplicates the vessel’s information online, so making the DEKPA superfluous.
The Port Police will also welcome the decision to scrap DEKPA.
Importantly though, there will be an obligation for all skippers to keep a detailed and signed log of all crew. Logging all arrivals and departures and noting any visa details where required.
UK Yachts (and non-EU Yachts)
With the UK leaving the EU on 31 December 2020. UK vessels, even those which are VAT paid, will have to apply for a Transit Log (TL) from Customs. This performs a similar function to a DEKPA, but for non-EU flagged vessels.
The CA views the TL as also being somewhat superfluous, increasing the workload of Customs. They are campaigning to have this scrapped too. The CA would like to see immigration requirements met by other facilities.
When made available, further details will be shared.
Related Content:
Find out more about the DEKPA here.
