About IMO

 

The IMO has 168 Members representing countries normally through their national maritime administrations. The main focus of the IMO is to develop and adopt international instruments or regulations for safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans. The implementation and enforcement of these instruments is the responsibility of Member States.  These instruments deal only with international shipping, i.e. ships working between different countries.  Domestic shipping (ships working within a single country) is regulated by individual countries.  Some countries adopt IMO regulations for their domestic ships.

 

Some important instruments developed by IMO are:

 

IMO is a technical organization and most of its work is carried out in a number of committees and sub-committees. The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) is the most senior of these.  The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) was established by the Assembly in November 1973. It is responsible for co-ordinating the Organization's activities in the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from ships.

 

There are a number of sub-committees whose titles indicate the subjects they deal with: Safety of Navigation (NAV); Radiocommunications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR); Training and Watchkeeping (STW); Carriage of Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers (DSC); Ship Design and Equipment (DE); Fire Protection (FP); Stability and Load Lines and Fishing Vessel Safety (SLF); Flag State Implementation (FSI); and Bulk Liquids and Gases (BLG).

 

The Legal Committee was originally established to deal with the legal problems arising from the Torrey Canyon accident of 1967, but it was subsequently made a permanent committee. It is responsible for considering any legal matters within the scope of the Organization.

 

The Technical Co-operation Committee is responsible for co-ordinating the work of the Organization in the provision of technical assistance in the maritime field, in particular to developing countries.

The Facilitation Committee is responsible for IMO's activities and functions relating to the facilitation of international maritime traffic. These are aimed at reducing the formalities and simplifying the documentation required of ships when entering or leaving ports or other terminals.

 

The IMO Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, who is assisted by a staff of some 300 international civil servants.

 

 

In order to achieve its objectives, IMO has promoted the adoption of some 40 conventions and protocols and adopted well over 800 codes and recommendations concerning maritime safety, the prevention of pollution and related matters.

The initial work on a convention is normally done by a committee or sub-committee; a draft instrument is then produced which is submitted to a conference to which delegations from all States within the United Nations system – including States which may not be IMO Members – are invited. The conference adopts a final text, which is submitted to Governments for ratification.

An instrument so adopted comes into force after fulfilling certain requirements, which always include ratification by a specified number of countries. Generally speaking, the more important the convention the more stringent are the requirements for entry into force. Implementation of the requirements of a convention is mandatory on countries which are parties to it. Codes and recommendations which are adopted by the IMO Assembly are not binding on Governments; however, their contents can be just as important, and in many cases they are implemented by Governments through incorporation into domestic legislation.

In addition to conventions and other formal treaty instruments, IMO has adopted several hundred recommendations dealing with a wide range of subjects.  Some of these constitute codes, guidelines or recommended practices on important matters not considered suitable for regulation by formal treaty instruments. Although recommendations – whether in the form of codes or otherwise – are not usually binding on Governments, they provide guidance in framing national regulations and requirements. Many Governments do in fact apply the provisions of the recommendations by incorporating them, in whole or in part, into national legislation or regulations. In some cases, important codes have been made mandatory by including appropriate references in a convention.

 

 

The International Maritime Organization works through a number of specialist committees and sub-committees. All these bodies are composed of representatives of Member States who discharge their functions with the assistance and advice of appropriate bodies of the United Nations or the specialized agencies, as well as international governmental and non-governmental organizations with which formal relationships have been established.

Formal arrangements for co-operation have been established with more than 30 intergovernmental organizations, while more than 50 non-governmental international organizations have been granted consultative status to participate in the work of various bodies in an observer capacity. These organizations represent a wide spectrum of maritime, legal and environmental interests and they contribute to the work of the various organs and committees through the provision of information, documentation and expert advice. However, none of these organizations has a vote.

 

 

This is the part of the process with which IMO as an Organization is most closely involved.  IMO has six main bodies concerned with the adoption or implementation of conventions.  The Assembly and Council are the main organs, and the committees involved are the Maritime Safety Committee, Marine Environment Protection Committee, Legal Committee and the Facilitation Committee.  Developments in shipping and other related industries are discussed by Member States in these bodies, and the need for a new convention or amendments to existing conventions can be raised in any of them.

Normally the suggestion is first made in one of the committees, since these meet more frequently than the main organs.  If agreement is reached in the committee, the proposal goes to the Council and, as necessary, to the Assembly.

If the Assembly or the Council, as the case may be, gives the authorization to proceed with the work, the committee concerned considers the matter in greater detail and ultimately draws up a draft instrument. In some cases the subject may be referred to a specialized sub-committee for detailed consideration.

Work in the committees and sub-committees is undertaken by the representatives of Member States of the Organization.  The views and advice of intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations which have a working relationship with IMO are also welcomed in these bodies.  Many of these organizations have direct experience in the various matters under consideration, and are therefore able to assist the work of IMO in practical ways.

The draft convention which is agreed upon is reported to the Council and Assembly with a recommendation that a conference be convened to consider the draft for formal adoption.

Invitations to attend such a conference are sent to all Member States of IMO and also to all States which are members of the United Nations or any of its specialized agencies.  These conferences are therefore truly global conferences open to all Governments who would normally participate in a United Nations conference.  All Governments participate on an equal footing.  In addition, organizations of the United Nations system and organizations in official relationship with IMO are invited to send observers to the conference to give the benefit of their expert advice to the representatives of Governments.

Before the conference opens, the draft convention is circulated to the invited Governments and organizations for their comments.  The draft convention, together with the comments thereon from Governments and interested organizations is then closely examined by the conference and necessary changes are made in order to produce a draft acceptable to all or the majority of the Governments present.  The convention thus agreed upon is then adopted by the conference and deposited with the Secretary-General who sends copies to Governments.  The convention is opened for signature by States, usually for a period of 12 months. Signatories may ratify or accept the convention while non-signatories may accede.

The drafting and adoption of a convention in IMO can take several years to complete although in some cases, where a quick response is required to deal with an emergency situation, Governments have been willing to accelerate this process considerably.

 

 

 

The enforcement of IMO conventions depends upon the Governments of Member Parties.  The Organization itself has no powers to enforce conventions.

Contracting Governments enforce the provisions of IMO conventions as far as their own ships are concerned and also set the penalties for infringements, where these are applicable.  They may also have certain limited powers in respect of the ships of other Governments.

 

It is sometimes said that IMO should have some sort of authority to enforce its regulations. This seems to imply the creation of a team of inspectors and a fleet of patrol boats crewed by officials with the right to board any ships they suspected of contravening IMO regulations. In practice, the creation of such a force would be financially enormous - it would mean recruiting hundreds, probably thousands of people - and politically impossible: most Governments would never agree to allow ships flying their flag to be boarded in international waters and any attempt to introduce a system of penalties and punishments would be even more unacceptable.

The "IMO" police force would duplicate the work being done already by individual Governments and there is no guarantee that it would make a significant impact on safety and pollution, certainly in relation to the cost involved. IMO has however been given the authority to vet the training, examination and certification procedures of Contracting Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978. This was one of the most important changes made in the 1995 amendments to the Convention which entered into force on 1 February 1997. Governments have to provide relevant information to IMO's Maritime Safety Committee which judges whether or not the country concerned meets the requirements of the Convention. The result is a List of Confirmed Parties to STCW.