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,
RECALLING ALSO the amendments to MARPOL
Annex IV adopted by resolution MEPC.200(62), which are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2013,
prohibiting the discharge of sewage from passenger ships within a
special area unless, in accordance with regulation
11.3 of MARPOL Annex IV, the passenger ship has in operation
an approved sewage treatment plant which shall be type approved by
the Administration, taking into account the standards and test methods
developed by the Organization,
RECALLING FURTHER the work of the Sub-Committee on Ship
Design and Equipment at its fifty-sixth session on the development
of the revised guidelines on implementation of effluent standards
and performance tests for sewage treatment plants,
BEING CONSCIOUS of the importance of the development and
availability of adequate and cost-effective technical means so as
to make it possible for the shipping industry to comply with the discharge
standards under MARPOL Annex IV,
1 CALLS for the development, without delay, of
proven, adequate and cost-effective technical onboard equipment to
make it possible to meet the discharge standards under regulation 11.3 of MARPOL Annex IV;
and
2 UNDERTAKES to keep under review the development
of the revised guidelines on implementation of effluent standards
and performance tests for sewage treatment plants.