Terms of Service

For Port Authority users (government employees), these Terms supplement and do not replace your obligations under Somaliland public service law and internal Ministry of Finance directives. For Shipping Agents and Armateurs, these Terms constitute a binding legal agreement between your organization and the SMCA from the moment of account registration.

The SMCA reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. Continued use of the platform after notification of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Access to Africgreen is restricted to the following categories of users:

• Port Authority Users: Active employees of the Somaliland government, accredited port authorities, or ministries, holding a valid official email address (e.g., @gov.sl domain). Accounts require approval by a Platform Administrator with SUPERADMIN clearance.
• Shipping Agents & Armateurs: Legally incorporated companies or sole traders with at least one vessel registered with the IMO and operating in or through the Somaliland EEZ. Registration requires a valid IMO Operator Number and SMCA-verified business registration.

All accounts are subject to identity verification before activation. The SMCA reserves the right to refuse or revoke registration at its discretion, without obligation to provide reasons, where national security or tax enforcement interests are implicated.

All users of the Platform agree to:

• Provide accurate, complete, and current information during registration and at all times during use of the Platform.
• Maintain the confidentiality of their credentials and immediately notify the SMCA at security@smca.gov.sl if they suspect unauthorized access to their account.
• Use the Platform exclusively for its intended lawful purposes — tax compliance, invoice management, fleet monitoring, and reporting — and not for any commercial, competitive intelligence, or unauthorized purpose.
• Comply with all applicable laws, including the Maritime Carbon Act 2024, Somaliland Tax Administration Act 2023, IMO MARPOL Annex VI, and international maritime conventions to which Somaliland is a party.
• Accept that all actions performed on the Platform are recorded in an immutable audit log that may be used as evidence in administrative or criminal proceedings.
• Not circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security feature of the Platform, including authentication mechanisms, rate limiters, and access controls.

Carbon tax rates are calculated per tonne of CO₂-equivalent emissions, estimated using the IMO Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI) methodology or, where engine data is available, direct SFOC-based calculation. Rates are published in the Tax Configuration by vessel category and jurisdiction zone, as visible in the Platform Tax Settings.

Vessels may apply for exemptions under Art. 17 of the Maritime Carbon Act 2024 (military vessels under bilateral agreements, humanitarian aid vessels, distress vessels). Exemptions require ministerial approval and are time-limited. Fraudulent exemption applications are a criminal offense.

• Pro-forma invoices are generated automatically by the Platform based on AIS data and tax configuration. They are legally valid demand documents under Somaliland tax law.
• Payment may be made via: (i) SWIFT bank transfer to the SMCA Treasury account, (ii) approved maritime escrow services, or (iii) carbon credit retirement (where eligible).
• Invoices unpaid within the stipulated window are escalated to OVERDUE status. Overdue vessels are subject to port gate lock, vessel detention orders, and escalation to the Ministry of Justice.
• Payment disputes must be filed in writing within 10 business days of invoice issuance to disputes@smca.gov.sl. Filing a dispute does not suspend the payment obligation unless the SMCA issues an explicit stay of enforcement.
• Overpayments are refunded within 30 business days, or credited against future tax liabilities at the operator's option.

The following actions are strictly prohibited and may result in immediate account suspension, criminal referral, or civil liability:

• Unauthorized access to another user's account or data, including through credential sharing, session hijacking, or social engineering.
• Tampering with or attempting to alter AIS data, vessel declarations, emission estimates, or tax calculation inputs.
• Submitting false or misleading information in registration, exemption applications, or vessel declarations.
• Automated scraping, mass downloading, or systematic extraction of Platform data without prior written SMCA authorization.
• Reverse engineering, decompiling, or attempting to extract source code or proprietary algorithms of the Platform.
• Using the Platform or data derived from it for commercial intelligence products, third-party maritime tracking services, or competitive analysis without an SMCA data license.
• Interfering with the availability of the Platform through denial-of-service attacks, excessive automated requests, or abuse of the API.
• Disclosing confidential Platform data (other than one's own records) to unauthorized parties.

The Africgreen platform, including its source code, design, algorithms, maritime carbon calculation models, dashboard layouts, and documentation, is the sovereign intellectual property of the Republic of Somaliland, administered by the Ministry of Finance. All rights reserved.

Users are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Platform solely for their authorized purposes as defined in these Terms. No license is granted to reproduce, distribute, sublicense, or create derivative works from Platform content.

Data submitted by users (vessel data, company information) remains the property of the submitting party but is licensed to the SMCA for all purposes necessary to fulfil its statutory mandate, including tax enforcement, carbon reporting, and audit record-keeping.

The following guarantees apply to all data processed by the Platform:

• State Ownership: All data generated through the operation of the Platform — including AIS tracking records, tax calculations, emission estimates, audit logs, and carbon credit registries — remains the sovereign property of the Republic of Somaliland, administered by the SMCA on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.
• Jurisdictional Hosting: All primary data storage infrastructure shall be located within the jurisdiction chosen by the subscribing State or, at minimum, within a jurisdiction offering equivalent data protection standards. The SMCA shall provide written certification of data hosting locations upon request.
• No Third-Party Transfer: No data shall be transferred to, shared with, or made accessible to any third party — including technology vendors, subcontractors, or foreign governments — without the explicit written consent of the SMCA. This includes anonymized or aggregated data unless specifically authorized.
• Right to Audit: The subscribing State retains the right to conduct independent audits of data storage infrastructure, access controls, encryption standards, and backup procedures at any time, with 10 business days written notice. The SMCA shall facilitate such audits at no additional cost.
• Data Residency Guarantee: Upon request, the SMCA shall provide a Data Residency Certificate specifying the physical locations of all servers, backup facilities, and disaster recovery sites where Platform data is stored or replicated.

The Right to Data Export includes the following guarantees:

• Full Data Export: Users may request a complete export of all data associated with their account, including vessel records, transaction history, invoices, emission calculations, audit logs, and dispute records. Export is available in CSV, JSON, and PDF formats.
• Delivery Timeline: The SMCA shall deliver requested data exports within a maximum of 72 hours from the receipt of a valid export request. Automated self-service exports (via the Platform dashboard) shall be available immediately for datasets under 50 MB.
• Open Formats: All exported data shall be delivered in open, documented, machine-readable formats (CSV with headers, JSON with schema documentation, PDF/A for invoices). No proprietary or encrypted formats that require SMCA-specific software to read.
• No Vendor Lock-In: The data export format shall be sufficiently documented and standardized to allow migration to any alternative platform or system without loss of data integrity. The SMCA shall provide a Data Dictionary document with each export upon request.
• Post-Termination Retention: Following contract termination or account deactivation, the SMCA shall retain all user data for a minimum of 90 calendar days, during which the user may request a final data export. After the retention period, data shall be permanently and irreversibly deleted, with written confirmation provided to the user.
• No Export Fees: Standard data exports are provided at no additional cost. The SMCA may charge reasonable fees only for custom export formats, historical data reconstruction, or exports requiring manual intervention, with fees disclosed in advance.

Export requests may be submitted via the Platform dashboard (Settings → Export My Data) or by written request to data-export@smca.gov.sl.

The Platform is provided as a sovereign government digital service. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

• The SMCA and the Ministry of Finance are not liable for indirect, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising from Platform use, including loss of business, loss of revenue, or commercial losses due to system downtime.
• The SMCA does not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free access to the Platform. Planned maintenance windows will be announced with at least 24 hours notice.
• Tax assessments generated by the Platform are estimates based on AIS data and may be subject to adjustment following physical inspection. The SMCA is liable only for manifest errors in tax calculation, subject to a formal dispute process.
• Nothing in these Terms limits Somaliland's sovereign immunity or the SMCA's statutory enforcement powers under the Maritime Carbon Act 2024.

The SMCA may amend these Terms at any time to reflect changes in Somaliland law, IMO regulations, platform functionality, or operational policy. Notice of material changes will be provided via:

• Email notification to all registered active users at least 30 calendar days before the effective date of changes.
• In-platform banner notification displayed on login for 30 days prior to changes taking effect.
• Publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Somaliland for changes arising from legislative amendments.

Users who do not accept amended Terms must notify the SMCA in writing and deactivate their account before the effective date. Continued use after the effective date constitutes unconditional acceptance.

Any dispute arising from these Terms shall first be subject to a 30-day good faith negotiation period. If unresolved, disputes shall be submitted to the Somaliland Commercial Court in Hargeisa. International shipping operators may elect arbitration under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules with the seat of arbitration in Djibouti, by written agreement with the SMCA.

For non-Somaliland resident users (foreign Armateurs and Shipping Agents), the SMCA also recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for disputes arising from the application of UNCLOS provisions to carbon tax enforcement in the EEZ.