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IMO not too slow says ICS

IMO not too slow says ICS
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has defended the speed of action at the IMO and voiced its support for the IMO 2014 theme "IMO conventions: Effective Implementation".

The association branded allegations that the IMO is too slow as "unfounded and rather unfair" in its annual review, published today.

The pace of changes brought about by the IMO are due to the technical complexity of the word it does, the political nature of many of the issues it addresses and the scale of negotiation involved in drawing consensus from over 150 member states, the ICS stated.

The chamber's 2014 review restated its position on a number of headline regulatory matters in shipping, including that an IMO study into the availability of distillate fuels should be brought forward, member states should withhold from ratifying the ballast water management convention until numerous concerns are addressed and that the current rules on places of refuge should be more rigorously enforced.

The chamber also looked ahead to a critical date for the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 20 August 2014, at which time full port state control can be applied to ships by nations party to MLC, regardless of where the ship is registered or whether that nation has ratified MLC. ICS called for balance and pragmatism when dealing with teething problems relating to MLC, and continues to offer support and guidance through various publications to effect a smooth adoption of the world's first global comprehensive framework of sector-specific employment regulations.