Recycling of Ships - Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels - page 82

5.2 Background

In October 2004, the Conference of Parties of the Basel Convention (“CoP 7”) was
held. At the Conference it was decided that a ship can be a hazardous waste, leading
to the proposal of a legally-binding instrument to prohibit exports of end-of-life
ships without the prior informed consent of the recycling State, and to guarantee
that shipbreaking will be carried out in an environmentally-sound way. 6 But the
shipping industry, with the support of certain rich States, seriously opposed this
proposition, and hoped that the IMO would adopt a legally binding rule for
shipbreaking that would be less stringent than the Basel Convention. 7 Ultimately,
the CoP 7 adopted a non-legally binding decision urging, amongst other things,
IMO:
[T]o continue to consider the establishment in its regulations of mandatory requirements,
including a reporting system for ships destined for dismantling, that ensure an equivalent
level of control as established under the Basel Convention and to continue work aimed at
the establishment of mandatory requirements to ensure the environmentally sound man-
agement of ship dismantling, which might include pre-decontamination within its scope. 8

This decision reflects the positions of the Basel parties on two highly-debated
issues. Firstly, the proposed IMO Convention will ensure an equivalent level of
control as regarding prior informed consent, as established under the Basel Con-
vention. And the proposed Convention will finally ensure the environmentally-
sound management of ship dismantling, which may or may not include
pre-decontamination of ships. Using the word “might” acknowledges the disagree-
ment between parties with respect to the pre-cleaning of ships before sending them
to recycling States.
Against this backdrop, in July 2005, the Marine Environment Protection Com-
mittee (MEPC) of the IMO decided to develop a new legally-binding convention
for shipbreaking. 9 The new instrument intends to take a approach

without compromising the safety and operational efficiency of ships. The MEPC in
principle agreed that this legal instrument would be adopted in the biennium 2008-
2009. 10 In December 2005, the IMO Assembly also endorsed this decision and
requested that the MEPC draft a legally-binding convention that would include
provisions for:

cradle-to-grave

' '

6

Morita ( 2005 ), p. 733.

7

Ibid.

8

Report of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, 63, UN Doc. UNEP/CHW.7/33 (25 January
2005) p. 64.
9 Report of the Marine Environment Protection Committee on its Fifty-Third Session, paras. 3.24-
.34, IMO Doc. MEPC 53/24 (5 July 2005).
10 Ibid, para 3.31.