Structure of the IMO and its Committees:

3.2. Structure of the IMO and its Committees:

The IMO was originally established as having an Assembly, a Council and a Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), the latter having responsibility for vessel safety including: aids to navigation; prevention of collisions; handling of dangerous cargoes; and any other matters relating to maritime safety. At the current time the IMO has an Assembly consisting of all Member States which meets every two years. At each of those meetings, a Council is elected by the Assembly and this Council, which is the Executive organ of the IMO, supervises the work of the organization. The Council is made up of 40 states from three different categories, and with no duplication between categories. The categories are: 10 states with the largest interest in providing international shipping services; 10 states with the largest interest in international seaborne trade; and 20 states with special interest in maritime transport or

24 Full details of IMO Membership can be found via the IMO website. Available online at: http://www.imo.org/About/mainframe.asp?topic_id=315 25 United Nations (2008). “Review of Maritime Transport β008”. Pub. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations, New York and Geneva, 2008. Available online via link at: http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=10745&intItemID=4659&lang=1&mode=downloads

International Protection of the Marine Environment

navigation. In addition to the Assembly and Council, the IMO also has a Secretariat led by a Secretary-General and has its offices based in London. The structure of the IMO, including details of those Member States that are Council Members, is available from the IMO

website 26 . Following entry into force in 1959, the IMO Convention was amended several times

between 1964 and 1993 as the number of countries becoming members increased. A number of additional Committees were also established to assist the work of the IMO. These were:

 Legal Committee - established in 1967 (originally as a sub-committee of the MSC)

and becoming a full committee under the 1975 amendments to the convention.

 Technical Co-operation Committee - established in 1969 and was raised to full Committee status in 1984 under the 1977 amendments.

 Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) - established under Article A.358(IX) of the 1975 amendments to the Convention as a subsidiary body of the

IMO to consider environmental issues, and raised to full constitutional status in 1985.  Facilitation Committee - established in 1972 and was raised to full committee status under the 1991 amendments.

A brief description of the various IMO Committees and Sub-Committees, together with their role within the organization, is provided in Table 2. The Committees and Sub-Committees of the IMO are responsible for updating existing regulations and the development and adoption of new regulations. IMO Committees and Sub- Committees are made up of all member states and meetings are open to marine experts from any member government. They are also open to a diverse range of Non-Governmental and Inter-Governmental Organizations (currently 78 NGOs and 61 IGOs, the latter including the 9

Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) Organizations discussed in Section 4) 27 . International NGOs can gain consultative status with the IMO Council and contribute to the work of its

Committees while IGOs can enter into agreements of co-operation with other IGOs in areas of common interest, as is the case with the MOUs. The range of IGOs and NGOs include the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU), The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).