According to the Japanese business daily, the Nikkei, under the legislation, the Japanese government and the country’s shipping firms would ink an insurance deal and the shipping companies would pay the premiums to the government.
On January 23, the European Union approved new sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors. The sanctions are meant to prevent EU member states from buying Iranian crude or doing business with its central bank. The sanctions will come into force as of July 1.
Additionally, the embargo banned European companies from transporting, purchasing or insuring crude and fuel originating in Iran and intended for anywhere in the world.
Should the EU choose to implement Iran’s oil sanctions, the Japanese government would rapidly introduce the bill to the parliament in order to be endorsed by early June, the daily said.
EU foreign ministers are expected to review the sanctions at a meeting on May 14.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters, several Japanese government officials have also asked the Japan P&I Club, the country's main ship insurer against pollution and personal injury claims, for advice.
"We don't think we can live without Iranian crude oil imports so we might need to consider some steps," one of the government official said.
Earlier in March, under pressure from Asian oil importers, the EU agreed to provide some insurance on Iranian oil shipments.
The agreement allows buyers outside the EU to purchase third-party and environmental insurance on their shipments from European insurers, who cover most of the world's tanker fleet.
The US and the EU imposed new financial sanctions as well as oil embargoes against Iran earlier this year, claiming that the country’s nuclear energy program may include a military component.
Tehran refutes such allegations, noting that frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have never found any diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program toward military purposes.
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Japan is mulling a new law that would allow its tankers to continue importing Iranian crude by providing them insurance cover even after the full enforcement of the European Union’s oil embargo against Iran.
News ID 181777
