France has acceded to the 2002 Athens Protocol, the IMO treaty providing for the compulsory insurance to cover passengers on ships. The Protocol raises the limits of liability and introduces other mechanisms to assist passengers in obtaining compensation, based on well-accepted principles applied in existing liability and compensation regimes.

The Permanent Representative of France to IMO, H.E. Nicole Taillefer met IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim (19 September) to deposit the instrument of accession.