Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Ships are required to be surveyed and certifi ed; to have on board and imple-
ment a Ballast Water Management Plan; and to have a Ballast Water Record Book.
All ships using ballast water exchange should, whenever possible, conduct ballast
water exchange at least 200 nautical miles from the nearest land and in water at
least 200 metres in depth. In cases where the ship is unable to conduct ballast water
exchange as above, this should be as far from the nearest land as possible and, in all
cases, at least 50 nautical miles from the nearest land. Details and the full text of
the new Convention can be found at the IMO website (
http://globallast.imo.org/
h ere are no internationally-agreed prevention measures for hull-fouling as an
IAS vector, although CBD Decision VI/23 called on the IMO to develop mechan-
isms to minimize this as a matter of urgency.
The ICAO recognizes that civil air transportation represents a potential path-
way for IAS introduction. Contracting States have been urged to take mutually
supportive efforts to reduce the risk of introducing potential IAS via this path-
way to areas outside their natural range. (For more details, see Shine
et al
. 2003,
2005.)
Non-native species are introduced through trade intentionally (imported prod-
ucts) or unintentionally (e.g. as by-products, parasites, and pathogens of traded
products, hitchhikers, and stowaways in vessels, vehicles, or containers that deliver
products or services). National measures to minimize unwanted introductions—
quarantine and border controls on live species, commodities, packaging, and other
vectors—therefore have a direct interface with the multilateral trading system
and need to be consistent with applicable rules and disciplines adopted within
the WTO framework. The WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures (WTO-SPS Agreement, 1995) provides:
•
That a WTO member may adopt national measures to protect human, ani-
mal, or plant health/life from risks arising from the entry, establishment, or
spread of pests, diseases, or disease-causing organisms and to 'prevent or limit
other damage' within its territory from these causes.
For the use of international standards as a basis for national protection meas-
•
ures that affect trade. The aim is ensure that national measures have a scien-
tifi c basis and are not used as unjustifi ed barriers to international trade. The
Agreement recognizes standards set by three organizations: IPPC (pests of
plants and plant health); OIE (pests and diseases of animals and zoonoses);
and Codex Alimentarius Commission (food safety and human health).
Four key principles (refl ected in the revised 1997 IPPC Agreement) that
•
include consistency in the application of appropriate levels of protection, least
