IACS delays Common Rules

In response to the heavy interest from industry in the development of IACS new common rules, IACS Council agreed to extend the period for comments from industry to 6 months in total. The last day for comments will therefore be 31st

December 2004.

The two project teams have received over 3,000 contributions from industry. In order

to fully evaluate all these inputs the Council has decided to postpone final approval

and publication of the rules until its meeting in June 2005 with the rules coming into

force on 1st January 2006. With this short postponement IACS Council will also be able to consider the implications of the debate at IMO at MSC 79 on Goal Based Standards.

IACS will publish two sets of rules, one for bulk carriers and one for tankers. Whilst

there are distinct differences inherent between bulk carriers and tankers, sufficient

harmonisation will have taken place prior to publication between the bulk carrier and

tanker rules. However further harmonisation work and consideration of the feedback

from industry into the continuous updating of the rules will remain IACS priorities

after initial implementation.