History of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization

3.1. History of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization

At the end of a UN Conference held in Geneva between February and March 1948, the Convention establishing the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) was adopted. The name of the organization being changed to IMO in 1982 following entry into force of the 1975 amendments to the original convention to remove the word

“Consultative” from its title. The aims of IMCO as set out in Article 1 23 of the original Convention included: provision of machinery for cooperation between Governments on all

aspects of the international shipping trade; encouraging the adoption of highest practicable standards for maritime safety and navigation; promoting the international shipping trade; and removing unfair restrictive practices on shipping. However, the original Convention text made no mention of marine pollution or of the environment and it was only in 1975 that Article 1 of the Convention was changed to include the aim of “prevention and control of

23 Convention on the International Maritime Organization. Information on the background to the Convention and its various Amendments, together with a summary of the main Articles, is available from the IMO website. Available online at: http://www.imo.org/conventions/mainframe.asp?topic_id=771

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marine pollution from ships”. The Convention finally entered into force in March 1959, 12 months after it was accepted by the 21 st state – the terms of entry into force required signature by 21 states, of which 7 had

to have a shipping industry with not less than 1,000,000 gross tonnes. Adoption of the Convention had been delayed for 11 years, much of the delay being due to some countries seeing Article 1 as being unacceptable to their national needs. During the 11 years prior to the adoption of the Convention concern about the marine environment and maritime safety continued to grow and two Conventions were adopted, the implementation of which was to become the responsibility of the IMO once it was established. These were the 1954 International Convention for Prevention of Pollution by Oil and the 1948 International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). This latter Convention had originally been adopted in 1914, following the sinking of the Titanic, and had been subsequently been amended in 1929 and in 1948. Between entry into force in 1958 and September 2010, the IMO Convention had been amended 8 times. This was the result of increased membership necessitating increasing the size of the Council, and also as a result of the need to introduce new Committees or change the status or make-up of existing Committees, for example.

The IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. At June 2010 it had 169 Member States (Contracting Parties) and three Associate Members 24 . Member Governments are

responsible for implementing and enforcing global regulations on safety, security and marine pollution from ships. The United Nations (1998 25 ) Review of Maritime Transport notes that over 80% of world merchandise is carried by sea, amounting to some 8.02 billion tons in 2007 (Executive Summary, page xiii). This includes transport of food, oil, raw materials and manufactured goods, for example. Maritime transport is of vital importance to the global economy. The effective governance of that mode of transport - and of the seas and oceans - particularly in the areas of environment, safety and security, are also vital. The IMO plays a significant role in ensuring that international standards, Conventions and regulations are adhered to by member and non-member states.