7 The Brasilia Regional Seminar and Workshop was organized in co-operation with the Government of Brazil and with financial support provided by the Governments of Australia, Denmark, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, the United Kingdom and the United States, the International Mobile Satellite Organization (Inmarsat), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Shipping Federation (ISF), the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
8 Eight countries in the region were invited and five participated. In addition, observers from another eight Latin America countries attended the meeting. The list of participants, observers and lecturers is contained in annex 1.
OPENING CEREMONY
9 In opening the seminar and workshop on behalf of the Government of Brazil, Minister Barbara Moussi of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked IMO for conducting the meeting in Brazil and said that the issue of piracy and armed robbery against ships was a matter of great concern to her country. She informed the meeting of the Brazilian Government's efforts to eliminate all types of unlawful acts including piracy and armed robbery against ships, drug trafficking and smuggling in their waters. Her Government had established inter-departmental committees, bringing together all law-enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Justice under the co-ordination of the Federal Police to study the problem and recommend solutions. This had resulted, inter alia, in the decision to provide the Federal Police in the ports of Santos and Rio de Janeiro with additional resources in both equipment and manpower in order to increase their capacity to meet the challenge. She hoped that the exchange of views which would take place during the seminar would assist the Brazilian law-enforcement agencies in formulating a suitable strategy in this regard. She wished the participants a successful meeting.
10 Welcoming the participants and observers, General Gilberto Serra, President of the Brazilian National Commission on Public Safety in Ports, Terminals and Navigable Waterways (CONPORTOS), said he was confident that the three days of intense exchange of information would result in recommendations aimed at eliminating unlawful acts which endanger the maritime trade. He added that his Government was open to any suggestions which would help it improve the services it offers.
11 Speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General of IMO, Mr. W.A. 0'Neil, Mr. E.E. Mitropoulos, Director, Maritime Safety Division, thanked the countries and international organizations whose financial support had made it possible to convene the meeting. He thanked the Government of Brazil for offering to host and for making available excellent facilities for the meeting. He gave the history of IMO's involvement in the subject of piracy and armed robbery against ships and briefly informed the meeting of the work carried out by the Organization over the years in this regard. He spoke of the recent trends in piracy and armed robbery against ships in different parts of the world and the series of consultations, which had taken place between IMO officials and the Embassies and High Commissions in London of a number of countries from where incidents were most frequently reported. These consultations had culminated in the present meeting; and Mr. Mitropoulos outlined the various programmes planned under a strategy agreed during the consultations to reduce piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide.
