NOTING that Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in
relation to regulations and guidelines concerning prevention and control
of marine pollution from ships,
NOTING ALSO that scientific studies and investigations by
Member Governments and other competent international organizations
have shown that some anti-fouling systems used on ships pose a substantial
risk of adverse impacts on ecologically and economically important
marine organisms,
RECOGNIZING that, due to the international nature of shipping
and the need to avoid distortions in the global shipping, shipbuilding
and shiprepair markets, actions to prohibit or otherwise control anti-fouling
systems on ships are most effectively accomplished through a global,
legally binding instrument,
NOTING IN PARTICULAR the serious concern regarding anti-fouling
systems in which organotin compounds act as biocides, and being convinced
that the introduction of such organotin compounds into the marine
environment must be prevented,
RECALLING that chapter 17 of Agenda 21, adopted by the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), calls upon
States to take measures to reduce pollution caused by organotin compounds
used in anti-fouling systems,
RECALLING ALSO that the Marine Environment Protection Committee,
by Resolution MEPC.46(30), recommended that Governments, inter
alia, consider appropriate ways to prohibit the use of tributyltin
compounds in anti-fouling systems,
RECOGNIZING the importance of protecting the marine environment
from the adverse effects of anti-fouling systems used on ships,
RECOGNIZING ALSO that the use of anti-fouling systems to
prevent the build-up of organisms on the surface on ships is of critical
importance to efficient commerce,
RECOGNIZING FURTHER the need to continue to develop anti-fouling
systems which are effective and environmentally safe,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Marine
Environment Protection Committee at its forty-second session,
1. URGES the Marine Environment Protection Committee
to work towards the expeditious development of a global legally binding
instrument to address the harmful effects of anti-fouling systems
used on ships as a matter of urgency;
2. AGREES that the legally binding instrument
to be developed by the Marine Environment Protection Committee should
ensure a global prohibition of the application of organotin compounds
which act as biocides in anti-fouling systems on ships by 1 January
2003, and a complete prohibition of the presence of organotin compounds
which act as biocides in anti-fouling systems on ships by 1 January
2008;
3. URGES ALSO Member Governments to encourage
industries to continue to develop, test, and use as a high priority
anti-fouling systems which do not adversely impact on non-target species
and otherwise degrade the marine environment;
4. CALLS UPON Governments to develop assessment
procedures for evaluating anti-fouling systems and to consider their
impact on the environment and society;
5. CALLS FURTHER UPON Governments to continue
to promote scientific and technical research on the environmental
impacts of anti-fouling systems.