Policy and Legal Framework and the Current Status of Ballast Water Management Requirements - Global Maritime Transport and Ballast Water Management: Issues and Solutions - page 59

some countries refer to the Ballast Water Performance Standard and a minority
addresses land-based ballast water reception facilities.
Keywords Non-indigenous species policy • Harmful aquatic organisms policy •
Ballast water management policy • Ballast water management legal frameworks •
Ballast water management requirements
Policy and Legal Framework for Ballast Water Management
There is a wealth of policy and management options to combat the introduction of
species including conventions, treaties, multilateral agreements and codes of prac-
tices which aim to support an internationally consistent management of specifi c
transport vectors, quarantine or other biosecurity measures (Campbell et al. 2009 ;
Hewitt et al. 2009 ). These instruments regulate species transfers, control their
release or address mitigation measures for introduced species populations by, e.g.,
eradication programmes (see Fig. 1 ). This chapter focusses on ballast water related
policy and legal frameworks and gives an update on the current status of ballast
water management (BWM) requirements world-wide.
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships ' Ballast
Water and Sediments , London 2004 (BWM Convention) is considered as the basic
global framework for BWM measures. International and national legislation pro-
vide for the prevention of harmful impacts caused by discharges of Harmful
Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens (HAOP) via ballast water. Port States need to
prevent unlawful acts of vessels fl ying their fl ag (i.e., Flag state obligations), as
well as those occurring in their jurisdictional waters (i.e., Port State obligations)
(IMO 2004 ). The BWM Convention and related BWM measures are addressed
more in detail in chapter “ Ballast Water Management Under the Ballast Water
Management Convention ” .
Global Legal Frameworks Addressing Species Introductions
Chronologically, the fi rst international instrument to address unintentional introduc-
tions may have been the International Health Regulations issued in 1969 by the
World Health Organization (WHO). 1 These regulations were prepared to provide
support to public health care operations and to ensure the prevention of the spread
of epidemics (e.g., plague, cholera).
The fi rst international instrument to include marine species introductions may be
the RAMSAR Convention or Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
1 http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/1983/9241580070.pdf , last accessed 02.10.2012.