RECALLING article 38(a) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment
Protection Committee (the Committee) conferred upon it by international
conventions for the prevention and control of marine pollution,
NOTING article 16 of
the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the "1973 Convention") and
article VI of the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention
for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (hereinafter referred
to as the "1978 Protocol") which together specify the amendment procedure
of the 1978 Protocol and confer upon the appropriate body of the Organization
the function of considering and adopting amendments to the 1973 Convention,
as modified by the 1978 Protocol (MARPOL 73/78),
RECALLING further that, at its fifty-fourth session, it
had endorsed the proposal by the DSC Sub-Committee regarding the timeframe
leading to the entry into force of the revised MARPOL Annex III to
make it coincide with the entry into force of amendment 34-08 to the
International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code,
HAVING CONSIDERED the proposed amendments to Annex III of
MARPOL 73/78 (revised Annex III),
1. ADOPTS, in accordance with article 16(2)(d) of the 1973 Convention,
the amendments to Annex III of MARPOL 73/78, the text of which is
set out at Annex to the present resolution;
2. DETERMINES, in accordance with article 16(2)(f)(iii) of the 1973
Convention, that the amendments shall be deemed to have been accepted
on 1 July 2009, unless prior to that date, not less than one-third
of the Parties or Parties the combined merchant fleets of which constitute
not less than 50 per cent of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant
fleet, have communicated to the Organization their objection to the
amendments;
3. INVITES the Parties to note that, in accordance
with article 16(2)(g)(ii) of
the 1973 Convention, the said amendments shall enter into force on
1 January 2010 upon their acceptance in accordance with paragraph
2 above;
4. REQUESTS the Secretary-General, in conformity
with article 16(2)(e) of the
1973 Convention, to transmit to all Parties to MARPOL
73/78 certified copies of the present resolution and the text
of the amendments contained in the Annex; and
5. REQUESTS FURTHER the Secretary-General to transmit
to the Members of the Organization which are not Parties to MARPOL 73/78 copies of the present resolution
and its Annex.