Introduction - Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels - page 7

to provide reception facilities for the disposal of oily wastes, sewage, garbage and
other hazardous substances.
The MARPOL 73/78 Convention primarily granted prescriptive and enforce-
ment jurisdiction to the flag States. However, any violation of the requirements of
the MARPOL Convention within the jurisdiction of a coastal State can be
prohibited and sanctions can be established under the law of that State. 29 The
meaning of the term “within the jurisdiction” has to be determined in light of the
international law in force at the time the Convention is applied or interpreted. 30 This
provision was incorporated into the Convention because, while negotiating the
Convention, States failed to reach an agreement about the coastal States ' jurisdic-
tion. They kept the room open until the adoption of the UNCLOS.
The MARPOL Convention introduced a system of certification. Most of the
ships operating international maritime transportation have to carry some certificates
on board as prima face evidence of compliance with the Convention. Any country
can inspect a ship to verify these certificates while the ship is voluntarily in that
country s port or offshore terminal. If “there are clear grounds for believing that the

condition of the ship or its equipment does not correspond substantially with the
particulars of the certificate” the port State can detain the ship. 31
Regulations covering the various sources of ship-generated pollution are
contained in the six Annexes of the MARPOL and are updated regularly. Annexes
I and II, governing oil and chemicals, are compulsory but annexes III-VI on
packaged materials, sewage, garbage and air pollution are optional. 32 The Annexes
of the MARPOL 73/78 can be amended through the “tacit acceptance” process. 33
Adoption of the MARPOL Convention preceded further institutional reform of
IMO. The eighth IMO Assembly meeting, held in 1973, established the Marine
Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) as a permanent subsidiary organ of the
Assembly. In 1975, IMO underwent further institutional reform. The name of the
organisation was changed to International Maritime Organisation from Intergov-
ernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation. Considering the growing concerns
regarding vessel-source pollution, prevention and control of marine pollution from
ships has been included as one of the purposes of the organisation. The most
important reform of the 1975 amendment was the establishment of the Legal
Committee (LEG) and MEPC as permanent organs of the organisation. The 1975
amendment was followed by a 1977 amendment which greatly expanded the
mandate of the organisation. This amendment deleted original article 1(d) which,
until deletion, restricted the functions of the organisation as being consultative and
advisory. Moreover, original article 1(d) was amended to create room for the

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29

MARPOL 73/78, art 4.
30 MARPOL 73/78, art 9(3).
31 MARPOL 73/78, art 5.
32 A State that becomes party to MARPOL must accept Annex I and II. Annexes III-VI are
voluntary annexes.
33 MARPOL 73/78, art 16. According to this process the amendments enter into force on a
specified date unless an agreed number of States parties object by an agreed date.