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ANNEX 15

STATEMENTS DELIVERED

1 STATEMENT DELIVERED BY THE DELEGATION OF VANUATU FOR THE SOUTH
PACIFIC REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (SPREP) TECHNICAL
SECRETARIAT ON THE PROPOSED LEGAL INSTRUMENT TO CONTROL
TRANSLOCATION OF ORGANISMS IN SHIPS' BALLAST WATER


   The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is an inter-governmental regional organisation comprising 26 members, including 14 independent Pacific island countries, 8 Pacific island territories and 4 metropolitan countries.

   The SPREP Technical Secretariat would like to register concerns with the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of IMO in regard to the proposed new international legal instrument being developed as the new international regulatory regime for the transport of foreign marine organisms in ships' ballast water.

   SPREP shares IMO's concerns about and interest in the ballast water issue, and strongly welcomes and supports the development of this regulatory regime. SPREP understands that the main management technique that will be used under this regime is reballasting/ballast exchange at sea, whilst ships are en-route from their source port to their destination port.

   SPREP understands that this technique is an effective risk minimisation measure, but does not eliminate the possibility of foreign marine species being introduced by ships.

   Of concern to the Pacific islands region is the fact that many transit shipping lanes pass through the region. Many ships may reballast/exchange ballast at sea whilst within the region in order to minimise the risk of introductions to countries around the rim of the region.

   The Pacific islands region may therefore be inadvertently receiving introduced marine species by well-intentioned ships that are reballasting/exchanging ballast whilst transiting the region.

   SPREP understands that this scenario has not been subject to any systematic assessment, and the new regulatory regime for ballast water is being developed without consideration of this issue. It is also being developed without effective representation of the region on the MEPC, which is overseeing the development of the legal instrument.

   There is a need to ensure that IMO assesses and considers the risks posed to the Pacific islands region by shipping which undertakes reballasting/ballast exchange whilst transiting the region, and to ensure that the international regulatory regime currently being developed for ballast water properly considers the interests of the Pacific islands region.

   In particular, as an initial step, SPREP would like to see the areas of the Pacific ocean where reballasting/ballast exchange takes place mapped, so that their proximity to the Exclusive Economic zones of Pacific island countries can be determined, and the potential risk of introductions of foreign marine species to Pacific island countries from these operations assessed. As many of the voluntary reballasting/ballast exchange regimes currently administered by Pacific rim countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA require the locations of reballasting/ballast exchange operations to be recorded by ships' masters, such a mapping exercise should be relatively straightforward.

 

 

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