Pollution Prevention, Response and Compensation - Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels - page 59

Convention has been questionable from its inception. This Convention was
amended in 1993 to prohibit the incineration, at sea, of industrial wastes and the
dumping of low-level radioactive wastes into the sea. This armament also intro-
duced a provision for phasing out, by 31 December 1995, the dumping of industrial
wastes into the sea. 136 The Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine
Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter was adopted in 1996, 137
obligating the contracting parties to “prohibit the dumping of any wastes or other
matter with the exception of those listed in Annex-I”. 138 Despite these amendments,
the overall effectiveness of this Convention remains unsatisfactory. This is mainly
because of the failure to ensure participation and compliance of many coastal
States. 139 Moreover, the reporting obligation under the Convention is also largely
ignored. 140

Conclusion
This chapter presented an overview of IMO legal instruments for vessel-
source marine pollution prevention, response and compensation. Despite a
growing participation of developed and least developed countries in the IMO
negotiation, IMO instruments still predominantly reflect the concerns of
developed countries. Most of the major IMO legal instruments have been
developed in the aftermath of major shipping accidents or pollution outbreaks
in western countries. The majority of PSSAs are also located in the developed
world. This trend, although not a deficiency of the IMO itself, does leave a
question mark over these IMO legal instruments

effectiveness in protecting
the global marine environment from vessel-source marine pollution.

'

136 Tan ( 2006 ), p. 342.
137 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and
Other Matter , opened for signature 7 November 1996, 36 ILM 1 (entered into force 24 March
2006) (London Dumping Protocol).
138

London Dumping Convention, article 4. Annex 1 allows dumping of the following with permit:
“.1 dredged material; .2 sewage sludge; .3 fish waste, or material resulting from industrial fish
processing operations; .4 vessels and platforms or other man-made structures at sea; .5 inert,
inorganic geological material; .6 organic material of natural origin; .7 bulky items primarily
comprising iron, steel, concrete and similarly unharmful materials for which the concern is
physical impact, and limited to those circumstances where such wastes are generated at locations,
such as small islands with isolated communities, having no practicable access to disposal options
other than dumping; and .8 Carbon dioxide streams from carbon dioxide capture processes for
sequestration.”
139 Stokke ( 1998 ), p. 46.
140 Ibid.