IMO achieves consensus to control alien invaders

A new international convention to prevent the potentially devastating effects of the spread of harmful aquatic organisms carried by ships’ ballast water has been adopted by the IMO. The instrument was adopted at an ?international conference on ballast water management? held from 9 to13 February at IMO’s London Headquarters.

The Convention will require all ships to implement a ?ballast water and sediments management plan? and all ships will have to carry a ?ballast water record? book and will be required to carry out ballast water management procedures to a given standard. Existing ships will be required to do the same after a phase-in period with the first deadline in 2009 and the last in 2016. The exact date will depend on the ship?s size, type and age with existing ships of over 5,000 cubic meters of ballast water receiving the longest time to comply.

Parties to the Convention are given the option to take additional measures which are subject to criteria set out in the convention and to IMO guidelines yet to be developed.

IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos congratulated member governments on the successful outcome of the conference. He said “With the adoption of this convention, the organization has made global provisions to control and manage ships’ ballast water and thus prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens across the seas and oceans of the world. Your work over the past week is a significant step towards controlling the introduction of invasive species via ballast water and thus towards safeguarding the biodiversity of the oceans.”

Mitropoulos went on to state that this is an achievement which becomes all the more important and significant given the consensus decisions member states were able to make on a complex subject. The Secretary-General emphasised that an early, wide and effective implementation of the convention was now crucial and that the momentum must be sustained to bring the convention into force as soon as possible on issues such as the global standards for ballast water exchange and treatment, the measures a party can take in addition to the global standards and ballast water exchange areas.

The convention will enter into force 12 months after ratification by 30 nations representing 35% of world merchant shipping tonnage. The conference was attended by representatives of 74 states, one associate member of IMO, and observers from two intergovernmental organizations and 18 non-governmental international organizations.

The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments is divided into articles and an annex which includes technical standards and requirements in the regulations for the control and management of ships’ ballast water and sediments.

The Conference also adopted a resolution on promotion of technical co-operation and assistance and pledged the support of IMO?s Integrated Technical Co operation Programme to help those countries who needed assistance. The GEF/UNDP/IMO Global Ballast Water Management Programme (GloBallast) is already providing technical support and expertise under a multi-million dollar project.