.2 that duplication of work should be avoided and account of the work of the relevant UN Ad Hoc Committee should be taken;
.3 that, for the time being and for constitutional reasons, only non-binding provisions should be developed until the relevant convention, currently under development by the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice enters into force; and
.4 that the seriousness and urgency of the matter necessitated careful consideration,
agreed, in principle, to a proposed two-back approach (paragraph 4 of document MSC 70/17/Rev.1), namely:
.1 to provide appropriate elements to the UN Ad Hoc Committee tasked with the development of an international instrument regarding trafficking of migrants (including by sea), on which substantive work was due to begin under the auspices of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna in January 1999; and
.2 to issue an MSC circular advising Member Governments on interim measures which could be taken, before the UN Ad Hoc Committee completed its work on a new instrument aiming at combating unsafe practices associated with the trafficking or transport of migrants by sea.
6 MSC 70 established a drafting group to:
.1 finalize the aforementioned draft MSC circular in full compliance with international law, as a recommendatory instrument, for approval at that session; and
.2 develop appropriate elements as the IMO contribution to the UN Ad Hoc Committee, taking into account the seriousness and urgency of the matter.
7 Having received the group's report, the MSC approved MSC/Circ.896 on Interim Measures for combating unsafe practices associated with the trafficking or transport of migrants by sea, as amended, and instructed the Secretariat to bring it to the UN Ad Hoc Committee's attention as IMO's contribution to its work.
8 MSC/Circ.896 outlines interim measures to be taken in such cases and, inter alia:
.1 invites Member Governments to promptly report to the Organization any relevant incidents and measures taken, to enable the Committee to update or revise, as necessary, the circular; and
.2 states the Committee's intention to revise the circular after the entry into force of the under development Convention against transnational organized crime, referred to in paragraph 4 above.
9 MSC/Circ.896 was subsequently conveyed to the UN Ad Hoc Committee's session which took place in Vienna from 19 to 29 January 1999. That Committee, while considering the draft protocol against illegal trafficking and transport of migrants (including by sea), agreed, in principle, that the relevant provisions of MSC/Circ.896 should be incorporated as far as possible in the appropriate chapter for sea transport of the draft protocol.
[Further developments in IMO and the UN Committee will be reported in an addendum to this document]
