The Marine Environment Protection Committee,
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Resolutions - Marine Environment Protection Committee - Resolution MEPC.279(70) – 2016 Guidelines for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (G8) – (Adopted on 28 October 2016) - The Marine Environment Protection Committee,

The Marine Environment Protection Committee,

RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment Protection Committee conferred upon it by the international conventions for the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,

RECALLING ALSO that the International Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships held in February 2004 adopted the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (the Ballast Water Management Convention) together with four conference resolutions,

NOTING that regulation D-3 of the annex to the Ballast Water Management Convention provides that ballast water management systems used to comply with the Convention must be approved by the Administration, taking into account the guidelines developed by the Organization,

NOTING ALSO resolution MEPC.125(53) by which the Committee adopted the Guidelines for approval of ballast water management systems (the Guidelines (G8)), and resolution MEPC.174(58), by which the Committee adopted a revision to the Guidelines (G8),

NOTING FURTHER that, by resolution MEPC.174(58), the Committee resolved to keep Guidelines (G8) under review in the light of experience gained,

RECALLING the provisions for non-penalization of early movers contained in the Roadmap for the implementation of the BWM Convention, agreed at its sixty-eighth session (MEPC 68/WP.8, annex 2),

NOTING the Organization's established practice with regard to the validity of type approval certification for marine products (MSC.1/Circ.1221) that the Type Approval Certificate itself has no influence on the operational validity of existing ballast water management systems accepted and installed on board a ship and manufactured during the period of validity of the relevant Type Approval Certificate, meaning that the system need not be renewed or replaced due to expiration of such Certificate,

HAVING CONSIDERED, at its seventieth session, the outcome of the Intersessional Working Group on the Review of Guidelines (G8),

1 ADOPTS the 2016 Guidelines for approval of ballast water management systems (G8), as set out in the annex to this resolution (the 2016 Guidelines (G8));

2 AGREES to keep the 2016 Guidelines (G8) under review in the light of experience gained with their application;

3 RECOMMENDS that Administrations apply the 2016 Guidelines (G8) when approving ballast water management systems as soon as possible, but not later than 28 October 2018;

4 AGREES that ballast water management systems installed on ships on or after 28 October 2020 should be approved taking into account the 2016 Guidelines (G8);

5 AGREES that ballast water management systems installed on board ships prior to 28 October 2020 should be approved taking into account either the Guidelines (G8) as adopted by resolution MEPC.174(58), or preferably the 2016 Guidelines (G8) set out in the annex to this resolution;

6 AGREES that, for the purpose of operative paragraphs 4 and 5 of this resolution, the word "installed" means the contractual date of delivery of the ballast water management system to the ship. In the absence of such a date, the word "installed" means the actual date of delivery of the ballast water management system to the ship;

7 AGREES that the dates referenced in this resolution will be considered in the reviews carried out in accordance with regulation D-5 of the Ballast Water Management Convention, to determine whether a sufficient number of appropriate technologies are approved and available, taking into account the 2016 Guidelines (G8);

8 SUPERSEDES the Guidelines for approval of ballast water management systems (G8) adopted by resolution MEPC.174(58).


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