1 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its eighty-third
session, conscious of the need to have mandatory provisions for
material safety data sheets in the interest of those working
on board ships to have clear, concise and accurate information on
the safety and health effects of substances carried on board, adopted
new SOLAS regulation VI/5-1 by resolution MSC.239(83).
2 The Committee, at its eighty-sixth session,
recognizing the fact that the provisions of new SOLAS regulation VI/5-1, which are
due to enter into force on 1 July 2009, could benefit from explanation
in order to ensure improved understanding and uniform compliance,
agreed to provide guidance to those associated with the carriage
and handling of oil and oil fuel, as provided in the following paragraph.
3 The provisions of SOLAS
regulation VI/5-1 stand to indicate that, notwithstanding
the provisions of SOLAS regulation VI/1,
ships carrying oil or oil fuel, as defined in regulation 1 of Annex
I to the International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978
relating thereto, shall be provided with Material Safety Data Sheets,
based on the recommendations developed by the Organizationfootnote, prior to the loading of such oil
as cargo in bulk or bunkering of oil fuel.
5 Member Governments and entities associated
with the carriage and handling of oil as cargoes in bulk and oil
fuels, as per the provisions of SOLAS
regulation VI/5-1, are invited to take note of the above guidance.