Eleven francophone African countries* have agreed on an action plan to better implement IMO’s key treaty on prevention of pollution from ships – the MARPOL Convention, Annexes I-V.
The plan includes both national and regional actions as well as recommendations to IMO, which aim to address the root causes hampering the effective implementation of MARPOL. In particular, two priority areas have been identified: the provision of adequate port reception facilities and the application of MARPOL measures to offshore activities.
The plan was agreed at a regional meeting in Côte d’Ivoire (19-21 November) organized by IMO and the Ministry of Transport of Côte d’Ivoire.
Participants took into account the MARPOL-related findings of IMO audits that were carried out in the majority of the countries attending. Institutional and regulatory issues , as well as human and financial resources, were identified among obstacles to effective implementation.
Some of the actions, such as facilitating access to relevant IMO documents by technical staff and enhancing inter-ministerial coordination, can be taken up immediately. Others are envisaged to require more time, such as adopting new national legislation to implement recent MARPOL amendments, and allocating additional resources to recruit and train officers to effectively enforce the obligations set out in MARPOL. The action plan also identifies needs for further technical assistance for the participating countries.
*Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinee, Mauritania, Senegal, and Togo