IMO Environmental Regulations—Is There a Case for Change to the Standard Entry-into-Force Requirements?

In 1973 Annex IV to MARPOL on the Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships was adopted and, despite being ratified by 75% of the parties to MARPOL, has yet to enter into force some 28 years after its adoption. In 1997 Annex VI to MARPOL on the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships was adopted and, after more than three years, has only been ratified by 3 of the required 15 States. In October 2001 a Diplomatic Conference is scheduled to be held in London to finalize, and it is hoped, adopt a Convention to protect the marine environment against the use of toxic antifouling systems on ship hulls; the draft text of the Convention is nearly complete but the question of entry-into-force conditions remains to be resolved. Likewise, another Convention on "Unwanted Aquatic Organisms in Ballast Water" is likely to go to a Diplomatic Conference in the biennium 2002/2003 and again, entry-into-force requirements have not yet been formalized but will undoubtedly form a major part of future discussions. The conundrum, therefore, is whether environmental legislation which directly or indirectly affects all countries, and not just those with a coastline, should be subject to the same standard entry-into-force requirements presently being applied to other maritime legislation.