Turkmenistan's Commercial Seafaring Code, the first in the country's legislation signed by the head of state last year, will take effect on 1 January 2009.

The new Code is the result of joint work of a group of specialists comprised of representatives of the parliament, Turkmendenizyollary department, and other ministries and organizations of Turkmenistan for creation of a single national legal basis in the sphere of commercial seafaring, the Turkmen State News Agency (TDH) reports quoting the Mejlis of Turkmenistan. The document has taken into account the international norms and standards regulating relations in maritime traffic. It is based on the major provisions of the sea law and rules of commercial seafaring, including relevant conventions signed and ratified by Turkmenistan as a full member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The new legal act is designed to promote transformational programmes and projects in Turkmenistan and to expand regional and international trade-economic relations, as well as to strengthen the position of Turkmenistan as a sea power, big transportation-transit hub of the international significance, the TDH said.