Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
equipment requires significant investment. Many LDCs, struggling to provide bare
necessities for their people, may consider investment for marine environmental
protection as a luxury. As pointed out by Beckman: “some countries may regard the
international standards in IMO Conventions as ideals to strive for, but not standards
which can reasonably be met at this time by ships flying their flag or by ships from
neighbouring countries entering its ports”.
43
Some developing countries lack sufficient technical and legal expertise. Tech-
nical experts of maritime administrations sometimes find it extremely difficult to
understand the legal jargon and terms, while legal officers of the maritime admin-
istration find it difficult to understand the technical terms of some of the interna-
tional marine environmental conventions (such as the MARPOL 73/78
Convention). Moreover, most of the LDC coastal States lack sufficient funds to
send their experts to the countless meetings of international organisations.
Due to lack of experts in the drafting division of the respective governmental
department, Law Ministry or Office of the Attorney-General, some developing
countries find it extremely difficult to draft implementing domestic legislation.
7.4.4 Enforcement
Establishing a proper enforcement mechanism is arguably the main challenge for
implementation of the IMO marine environmental conventions. Implementation of
these highly technical conventions requires both expertise and sophisticated equip-
ment. Many developing countries have neither the willingness nor the capacity to
enforce these conventions.
With respect to enforcement of these conventions, there are two main aspects.
The first is enforcement of these conventions by flag States in relation to the vessels
which fly their flag. The second is enforcement of these conventions by coastal and
port States in relation to foreign vessels which visit their ports and other marine
areas. As can be seen in the previous section, records of the vessels flying devel-
oping countries
'
flags are very poor. Equally, developing countries
'
enforcement
record as coastal and port States is also marginal.
7.4.5
Interagency Conflict
In many countries, different government agencies
authority is not very clear.
Different government agencies work in the same area with conflicting responsibil-
ities. The maritime administration, port administration, environment department,
custom department, coast guard and naval forces are not co-ordinated under a single
'
43
Beckman, above note 40.
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