water and sediments. The Working Group included this advice in paragraph 4 of the operational section of the draft Assembly resolution.
38 The Working Group finalized the draft Assembly resolution, as requested. The Chairman of the Working Group introduced the draft text (MEPC 40/WP. 11) to the Committee2. He emphasized that in the case of its adoption by the Assembl); there was a need for the text to be published by IMO in the form of a booklet and for governments to distribute the publication widely to shipping industries and port authorities.
Draft Regulations for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water to Minimi-e the Transfer of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens; and Guidelines for their Effective Implementation
39 The Working Group agreed that the draft Regulations developed So far by the Working Group during the 38th session of MEPC and set out in/VIEPC 39/7, annex 2, should be reviewed during the intersessional period and revised during the next session of the Committee in early 1998, taking also into account advice on safety requirements which would then be available after consideration of these aspects by the DE and SLF Sub-Committees.
40 In light of comments made during MEPC, the Working Group had been specifically invited to review the "applications" of draft regulation 3, taking into account that exemptions concerning control and management options may be granted by the relevant port State authorities. It may further be recalled that the originally proposed application to "all ships" had been a matter of considerable debate.
41 The Working Group further recalled that the original draft Guidelines for the Implementation of the draft Regulations which had been based on a proposal submitted under MEPC 38/13/1 and which are mentioned above, would have to be reviewed. It had also been emphasized that all elements and the guidance prepared by the Working Group as part of the new Assembly resolution mentioned in paragraph 35 above, will have to be revisited when guidelines were finalized for the purpose of assisting in the implementation of the new regulations (MEPC 39/13, paragraph 7.11).
42 In light of the above discussions and for easy reference, the draft Regulations and the draft guidelines for their implementation are set out in annex 1 and annex 2 to this report respectively.
Questionnaire concerning the application of advice provided by IMO in the form of "voluntary guidelines" (i.e., IMO resolution A.774(18))
43 The Working Group, having been requested by the Chairman of MEPC to consider the preparation of a circular enquiring on the status of national provisions to reduce the risks of introducing harmful organisms with ballast water with ballast water that have been adopted so far by individual States, considered a draft questionnaire prepared by the Secretariat.
44 The Working Group reiterated the need to collect information on ballast water management provisions prescribed by a number of national administrations or port authorities for circulation, preferably through the Secretariat. The Secretariat was requested to update its first draft and to distribute this for further consideration at the next meeting of the Ballast Water Working Group.
2 MEPC 40 approved the draft resolution for onward submission to the twentieth IMO Assembly, as set out in MEPC40/21, annex 6. Thc IMO Assembly adopted the resolution at its twentieth session as resolution A.868(20).
