IMO's rules and regulations for suppressing unlawful acts against the safety of navigation can be seen in the wider context of the global fight against terrorism. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED) carries out assessment visits to countries to assess their compliance with various international security instruments and UN Security Council resolutions.
IMO took part in a follow-up visit to Tbilisi, Georgia (16-18 July) organized by UNCTED, particularly to assess the country's implementation of the special maritime security measures in IMO's SOLAS chapter XI-2, the ISPS Code, as well as the SUA Convention and Protocols.
The assessment included a series of meetings with Georgian government agencies involved in maritime security, including authorities for maritime, defence, law enforcement, customs and coast guard. The talks were conducted alongside partner organizations, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and Interpol. The "One UN" inter-agency approach underscores that national security and counter terrorism management must include the maritime sector in national security policies, procedures and response plans.
IMO's Henrik Madsen represented IMO during the assessment, which follows a previous assessment (UNCTED 2007) as well as a prior IMO organized national maritime security workshop in 2014. This event comes ahead of Georgia hosting an international maritime forum in September 2018, to be held in the port city of Batumi, in which IMO will be participating.