RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in
relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety
and the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,
RECALLING ALSO that, through resolution A.1018(26), it approved
the time frame and schedule of activities for the consideration and
introduction of an institutionalized IMO Member State Audit Scheme,
RECALLING ALSO that, by resolution
A.1054(27), it adopted the Code for the Implementation
of Mandatory IMO Instruments, 2011, which provides guidance
for the implementation and enforcement of IMO instruments and forms
the basis of the Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme, in particular
concerning the identification of the auditable areas,
BEING AWARE of the request of the seventh session of the
United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 7) that
measures be developed to ensure that flag States give full and complete
effect to the IMO and other relevant conventions to which they are
party, so that the ships of all flag States meet international rules
and standards,
RECOGNIZING that parties to the relevant international conventions
have, as part of the ratification process, accepted to fully meet
their responsibilities and to discharge their obligations under the
conventions and other instruments to which they are party,
REAFFIRMING that States have the primary responsibility
to have in place an adequate and effective system to exercise control
over ships entitled to fly their flag, and to ensure that they comply
with relevant international rules and regulations in respect of maritime
safety, security and protection of the marine environment,
REAFFIRMING ALSO that States, in their capacity as port
and coastal States, have other obligations and responsibilities under
applicable international law in respect of maritime safety, security
and protection of the marine environment,
NOTING that, while States may realize certain benefits by
becoming party to instruments aiming at promoting maritime safety,
security and the prevention of pollution from ships, these benefits
can only be fully realized when all parties carry out their obligations
as required by the instruments concerned,
NOTING ALSO that the ultimate effectiveness of any instrument
depends, inter alia, upon all States:
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(a) becoming party to all instruments related
to maritime safety, security and pollution prevention and control;
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(b) implementing and enforcing such instruments
fully and effectively; and
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(c) reporting to the Organization, as required,
BEING DESIROUS to further assist Member Governments to improve
their capabilities and overall performance in order to be able to
comply with the IMO instruments to which they are party,
CONSCIOUS of the difficulties some Member States may face
in complying fully with all the provisions of the various IMO instruments
to which they are party,
MINDFUL of the need for any such difficulties to be eliminated
to the extent possible; and recalling that the Organization has established
an Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme for that reason and
purpose,
NOTING FURTHER that the Maritime Safety Committee and the
Marine Environment Protection Committee have developed requirements
for adoption by Contracting Governments to the International Convention
for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, the Protocol of 1988 relating
to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified
by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, the Protocol of 1997 to
amend the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution
from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto,
and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification
and Watchkeeping, 1978, respectively, which will make the use of the
Code referred to in operative paragraph 1 mandatory,
RECALLING FURTHER its consideration of requirements for
adoption by Contracting Governments to the International Convention
on Load Lines, 1966, the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement
of Ships, 1969 and the Convention on the International Regulations
for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, which will also make the use
of the Code referred to in operative paragraph 1 mandatory,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendations made by the Marine
Environment Protection Committee, at its sixty-fourth session, and
the Maritime Safety Committee, at its ninety-first session,
1 ADOPTS the IMO Instruments Implementation Code
(III Code), set out in the annex to the present resolution;
2 REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee and the
Marine Environment Protection Committee to keep the Code under review
and, in coordination with the Council, to propose amendments thereto
to the Assembly; and
3 REVOKES resolution A.1054(27) on the Code for the Implementation of Mandatory IMO
Instruments, 2011.