1.1 The fifty-second session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee was held at IMO Headquarters from 11 to 15 October 2004 under the chairmanship of Mr. A. Chrysostomou (Cyprus).

　

1.2 The session was attended by delegations from the following 89 Members of IMO:

　

　

by representatives from the following two Associate Members of IMO:

　

by representatives from the following United Nations and Specialized Agencies:

　

by observers from the following four intergovernmental organizations:

　

and by observers from the following 30 non-governmental organizations:

　

1.3 The Chairman of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), Mr. T. Allan (United Kingdom); the Chairman of the Technical Co-operation Committee (TCC), Captain M.U. Ahmed (Bangladesh); the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases (BLG), Mr. Z. Alam (Singapore); the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment (DE), Mr. I.M. Ponomarev (Russian Federation); and the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI), Mr. Ki-tack Lim (Republic of Korea) were also present.

　

　

1.4 The Secretary-General welcomed participants to the fifty-second session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee.

　

1.5 The Secretary-General then expressed his deep sorrow for the passing of Mr. Emil Jansen of Norway, who rendered excellent services to the Organization, particularly during his chairmanship of the MEPC and MSC, for which he was awarded the IMO Prize. The Secretary-General requested the Norwegian delegation to convey the Organization's condolences and sympathy to Mr. Jansen's family, friends and colleagues.

　

1.6 The Secretary-General highlighted the importance of the oceans as among the most precious resources of this planet. If not properly maintained and preserved, the ecological capital of the oceans will erode and their valuable assets for future generations would be put at risk. Protection and conservation of the marine environment were, therefore, of the utmost importance for sustainable development. Although most of the pollution of the world's oceans came from land-based sources with shipping being responsible for a comparatively small percentage, the growing public intolerance to pollution from shipping incidents and the heightened concern at the impact of global shipping activities on the environment have given a new impetus to the endeavours of this Organization to play its role efficiently and effectively.

　

1.7 The Secretary-General referred to the entry into force of MARPOL Annex VI on 19 May 2005. In this connection, he expressed his concern about the slow pace of ratification of other IMO instruments dealing with pollution-related matters, and he urged prompt action from Member States to ratify or accede to the OPRC-HNS Protocol of 2000, the AFS Convention of 2001 and the Ballast Water Management Convention of 2004.

　

1.8 The Secretary-General stated that the slow pace of adoption and subsequent ratification of IMO instruments prompted critics to argue that the Organization was slow and, by implication, inefficient. In fact, the Organization took prompt and expeditious action after the Estonia, Erika and Prestige incidents and in response to the atrocities of 11 September. And the organization could take more expeditious action, if a Conference of Parties to the Convention so decides, by making use of article 16 of the MARPOL Convention to accelerate the procedures for the acceptance and entry into force of amendments to the Convention, should there be a need for expeditious action to be taken under special circumstances.

　

1.9 With regard to the Ballast Water Management Convention which was adopted in February this year, the Secretary-General stated that efforts should be concentrated on the early entry into force of the new Convention. And to this end, the set of 13 guidelines for the uniform implementation of the Convention must be developed as soon as possible.

　

1.10 Turning to the item on ship recycling, the Secretary-General encouraged all stakeholders to do their utmost to minimize the related environmental, safety and occupational health risks. The IMO Guidelines were a positive step in the right direction and intensive work was currently underway to promote their implementation, assess their effectiveness, review them and, if necessary, determine any other required solutions, including the identification of those parts of the Guidelines which might be made mandatory. The Secretary-General also mentioned the need to continue co-operation with ILO and the appropriate bodies of the Basel Convention, including work through the Joint ILO/IMO/Basel Convention Working Group.

　

1.11 The Secretary-General stated that, because MARPOL Annex VI did not cover the regulation or limitation of greenhouse gas emissions from international marine bunker fuel oil, resolution A.963 urged the Committee to take action on, amongst other things, the establishment of a greenhouse gas emission baseline and the development of a methodology for an emission index for ships. He reiterated that it was important for the Organization to develop necessary mechanisms for the reduction of the emission of such gases from ships and, in this endeavour, the Committee had a key role to play. He trusted that the Committee, at this session, would be able to make good progress towards this end.

　

1.12 Referring to the adoption of amendments to MARPOL Annexes I and II and the consequential amendments to the IBC Code, the Secretary-General recalled that the development of the proposed revised texts was the result of nine years of hard work, in the course of which considerable efforts had been made by the GESAMP/EHS Working Group for the evaluation of products subject to the IBC Code and by the ESPH Working Group in preparing the revised MARPOL Annex II and the IBC Code. He noted the Committee's efforts to seek a balance between the need to protect the marine environment and the avoidance of any potential disruption to certain trades, such as vegetable oils.

　

1.13 With regard to the issues on PSSAs, the Secretary-General stated that, when the Committee considered applications for the designation of PSSAs, it was important to take into account the views of all interested parties, including coastal and flag States and the shipping and environmental communities. Therefore, in the proposed review of the PSSA Guidelines, the Committee should take into account the experience gained in respect of the designation of the existing PSSAs and any feedback from Governments in relation to the added value of associated protective measures.

　

1.14 Referring to the problem of inadequacy of port reception facilities, the Secretary-General emphasized the need for action by all parties concerned, and he strongly encouraged all Member States, particularly port State Parties to MARPOL 73/78, to fulfil their treaty obligations under the Convention by providing adequate reception facilities for ships calling at their ports.

　

1.15 With regard to the proposed measures to deal with the problem of deliberate and illegal discharges of oil, noxious liquid substances and garbage into the marine environment, including development of guidelines in this respect, the Secretary-General highlighted the importance to achieve greater MARPOL compliance; enhance detection and investigation of illegal discharges; and strengthen co-operation in all respects. In the meantime, he requested the Committee to bear in mind the relevant provisions of existing instruments and, more particularly, to clearly distinguish between accidental and deliberate or intentional discharges of pollutants.

　

1.16 The Secretary-General noted the value of the work of the GESAMP/EHS Working Group for its activities in the hazard evaluation of chemicals and in the regular assessment of the state of the oceans. Following a recent review by GESAMP's sponsoring UN agencies, including IMO, a proposal for its restructuring, including operational procedures, was now before the Committee for consideration. The proposal had budgetary implications and, if IMO was to continue to support GESAMP, a recommendation seeking the Council's approval would have to be formulated at this session.

　

1.17 The Secretary-General also noted the action requested of the Committee in respect of news media attendance at IMO meetings and the trial application of the proposed new reporting system for sub-committees.

　

1.18 The Secretary-General closed his opening remarks by stating that, with the usual spirit of co-operation, he anticipated that the Committee would arrive at solutions that would serve well the cause of marine environmental protection and the interests of the maritime world at large.

　

　

1.19 The Committee noted the report of the Secretary-General that credentials of the delegations were in due and proper order.