Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A whole part of the IMO Ship Recycling Convention targets the Asian developing
countries having large shipbreaking industries.
The shipbreaking industry is a land based activity, the adverse impact of which is
limited to the marine environment of the host country. An organisation in which
representation in the main decision-making body is totally based on
'
interest in
shipping services
'
,
'
interest in international seaborne trade
'
and
'
interests in mar-
itime transport or navigation
, cannot be treated as a suitable forum for making
international regulation for an industry which is land-based and mainly hosted by
poor coastal States.
There is nothing to oppose IMO
'
s endeavour to expand its working area.
However, if the organisation wants to expand its activities into many areas,
representation in the main decision-making forums should be reformed accord-
ingly. Otherwise, the global south may accept these initiatives with serious reser-
vations. Nevertheless, some of the developing coastal States are already members
of the IMO Council in other categories. That does not necessarily diminish the
necessity of recognition of the representation of developing coastal States as a
separate category in the IMO Council.
As mentioned several times in this topic, almost all of the IMO conventions are
the result of reactive rule-making. Most of these conventions, or their amendments,
have been initiated after major oil spills in developed countries and have never
attracted the attention of developing countries. These conventions very often failed
to address the root causes of pollution, like negligence, fatigue, poor maintenance,
and inadequate training. In many instances, these conventions were adopted merely
to appease the immediate environmental activism hype of western countries created
by high-profile incidents like Torrey Canyon, Amoco Cadiz, Argo Merchant,
Exxon Valdez, Erika and Prestige. On the other hand, many oil spills in developing
countries have failed to attract the global community
'
s attention.
47
Even recent initiatives in adopting a new convention on ship recycling comes
just after high profile controversies like the “US Ghost Ships”, Riky, and Clemen-
ceau. These incidents created significant public opinion in the developed world,
particularly in Europe and USA. Public opinion in the developing world was never
reflected in the IMO conventions, as their governments have little, or no, resources
for attending meetings of the IMO committees.
For proper implementation of international regulations in the developing coun-
tries, the global community must find a way to ensure equitable representation of
developing countries in the decision-making bodies and the decision-making pro-
cess of the international organisations.
'
47
Fakhry (
2003
), p. 98.
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