.2 given the anticipated time lag between confirmation of funding and its receipt at IMO, the drafting group considered it unlikely that a report would be available for consideration by the Committee before MEPC 44;
.3 the implementation of the study will place a heavy burden on the IMO Secretariat and assistance may be needed from Member States and organizations involved perhaps by the establishment of a project steering committee; and
.4 a considerable amount of background information on the issue of greenhouse gas emissions from ships is available from various organizations and institutions around the world and the consultant employed should take this information into consideration.
9.15 The Committee considered the matter of managing the study and agreed to establish a Steering Committee to assist the Secretariat in implementing the study.
9.16 The Committee welcomed the offer from the United States, Norway and Panama to participate in the Steering Committee and invited other Member States to inform the Secretariat of their intention to participate in the Steering Committee and funding of the study.
9.17 The Committee instructed the Secretariat to initiate the study as soon as possible taking into account the Organization's in-house procedures for procurement, consultants' selection and project management.
9.18 Having generally discussed the matter on greenhouse gas emissions, the Committee noted that in response to the Kyoto Conference, IMO has a clear mandate to deal with emissions of greenhouse gases from ships and agreed to develop a policy document on greenhouse emissions from ships which should be forwarded to the UNFCCC.
9.19 The Committee agreed to further consider the issue at MEPC 43 and invited Member Governments and international organizations to submit comments and proposals for such a policy document which should also take into account the outcome of the IMO study on CO2 emissions from ships, referred to in paragraph 9.13 above.
MEPC circular on Interim draft Guidelines for the Application of the NOx Technical Code
9.20 The Committee recalled, that MEPC 41 agreed that new engines installed on board ships on or after 1 January 2000 should, on a voluntary basis, comply with the requirements of the NOx Technical Code and prepared a draft MEPC circular on Interim Guidelines for the Application ofthe NOx Technical Code as contained in annex 3 to MEPC 41/20 for further consideration at this session.
9.21 Several delegations stated that the draft Interim Guidelines need some clarification with regard to the relationship between the flag State Administration and other Governments and the validity of the Interim Certificate.
9.22 Other delegations stated that the draft Interim Guidelines reflected the outcome of the Committee's considerations during MEPC 41.
9.23 In order to clarify the points raised and improve the text, the Committee instructed a drafting group to prepare a clean version of the draft Interim Guidelines for consideration and approval by the Committee.
