1 The purpose of these Guidelines is to provide
a standard text for inclusion in new IMO conventions and other mandatory
instruments relating to maritime safety and pollution prevention and
in future amendments to existing conventions and other instruments,
in order to ensure that, where reference is made to IMO and other
instruments, a uniform wording is used in order to indicate clearly
the legal status of the instrument in question after the IMO body
concerned has decided on such a status.
IMO instruments to be treated as mandatory
2 When Contracting Governments or Parties to an
IMO convention have decided that full effect should be given to the
provisions of certain codes or requirements under that convention
in the same manner as the regulations of the convention themselves,
such instruments should be treated as mandatory and have the same
legal status as the parent convention.
3 The most appropriate method for referencing,
in an IMO convention, instruments determined to become mandatory under
the parent convention is to follow the SOLAS provisions used for making
the IBC and IGC Codes
(under chapter VII) and HSC Code (under chapter
X) mandatory, i.e.:
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.1 to refer expressly to such instruments in the
text of the relevant convention regulations;
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.2 to provide expressly that future amendments
to such instruments should follow the amendment procedures laid down
in the relevant article of the parent convention; and
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.3 to prescribe expressly in the text of the relevant
convention regulations that "such requirements shall be treated as
mandatory" in case the word "should" has been used in such instruments
instead of "shall".
4 For such instruments, the use of terms such
as "guidelines" or "guidance", which might be misunderstood as implying
recommendations, should be avoided as far as possible.
5 It would be preferable to adopt the text of
the instrument being referenced at the time of adoption of the relevant
amendments to the convention concerned and to prepare an authentic
text of the instrument, which will be used as the basis for the preparation
of any certified copies of future amendments to such an instrument.
Performance standards and technical specifications
in IMO instruments
6 The SOLAS, MARPOL and other IMO conventions contain provisions
referring to performance standards and technical specifications, such
as performance standards for GMDSS equipment, shipboard navigational
equipment, oil discharge and monitoring systems, etc. which are accompanied
by footnotes identifying such performance standards or technical specifications
as adopted by the Organization, i.e. by means of Assembly resolutions,
MSC or MEPC resolutions, etc. Such standards and specifications referred
to in the footnotes are not regarded as mandatory instruments for
treaty purposes, since they do not appear in the authentic text of
the parent convention and can be updated by the Secretariat as necessary;
hence, they do not constitute an integral part of the parent convention.
Nevertheless, Contracting Governments or Parties to the parent conventions
are obliged to establish national standards not inferior, or at least
equivalent, to those developed by the Organization.
7 In referencing such standards and specifications,
the expressions shown in the following examples should be used:
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- "equipment shall conform to performance standards
not inferior to those adopted by the Organization";
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- "equipment shall be tested in accordance with
specifications at least equivalent to those developed by the Organization";
or
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- "the manual shall be drawn up to a standard
at least equivalent to that developed by the Organization."
8 Expressions such as "the equipment shall comply
with the standards adopted by the Organization" or "... in accordance
with the standards adopted by the Organization", should not be used
in order to avoid any misunderstanding that the standards not identified
in the regulation are mandatory.
9 Standards and specifications referred to in
footnotes should not appear in the authentic text of the convention
and may be updated by the Secretariat as necessary when a new edition
of the relevant publication is prepared.
10 For such standards and specifications, the
use of terms such as "guidelines" or "guidance" should be avoided
as far as possible.
11 The standards and specifications referred to
above should clearly indicate their effective date and application
to new and existing ships, or both, and to new and existing installations
of equipment, or both, unless this is already specified in the relevant
regulations of the parent convention.
12 Future amendments to performance standards
and technical specifications should be processed and adopted in accordance
with the Committees' Rules of Procedure and the Guidelines on the
organization and method of work of the Committees and their subsidiary
bodies. When such amendments are adopted as new standards superseding
existing ones (with new resolution numbers), the revised standard(s)
should normally take effect not earlier than six months after adoption
unless expressly decided otherwise by the relevant Committee at the
time of adoption.
IMO instruments to be treated as recommendations
13 When Contracting Governments or Parties to
an IMO convention have decided that they should implement certain
instruments, such as guidelines, manuals or guidance, with a certain
discretion and flexibility, such instruments should be treated as
recommendatory instruments.
14 Instruments of recommendatory status should
be referred to in the footnote accompanying the relevant regulations
of the parent convention. In such cases:
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.1 clear expressions should be used in the regulation
indicating the recommendatory status of the instrument, e.g. "...
shall be approved by the Administration, taking into account the recommendations
developed by the Organization" or "...., based on the guidelines developed
by the Organization"; and
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.2 self-contradictory expressions, such as "shall
comply with the recommendations", should be avoided.
15 Guidelines or recommendations referred to in
the footnotes should not appear in the authentic text of the convention
and may be updated by the Secretariat as necessary when a new edition
of the relevant publication is prepared.
Method for referencing instruments in mandatory IMO
instruments
16 The above procedures should also apply for
the purpose of referencing IMO instruments in mandatory instruments,
such as the IBC, IGC, HSC Codes, etc.
17 If the Committee concerned decides that an
instrument referred to in the mandatory instrument should be treated
as mandatory, the text making reference to such an instrument in accordance
with paragraph 3 above should be included in the relevant regulation
of the parent convention rather than in the mandatory instrument itself.
Method for referencing industry standards in mandatory
IMO instruments
18 If industry standards, such as ISO or IEC standards,
or IACS unified requirements, are to be referred to in IMO conventions
or other mandatory instruments, the following method should be used:
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.1.1 industry standards to be treated as mandatory
should be adopted by the relevant Committee in the form of an appropriate
resolution, and should be referenced as described in paragraphs 2
to 5 above;
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.1.2 industry standards containing performance
standards or technical specifications should be referred to as "standards
acceptable to the Organization" with an appropriate footnote to identify
such standards, e.g. "equipment shall conform to performance standards
not inferior to those acceptable to the Organization" or "equipment
shall be tested in accordance with specifications at least equivalent
to those acceptable to the Organization"; and
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.2 in the case of industry standards which should
be treated as recommendations and referred to in footnotes, expressions
similar to those mentioned in paragraph 14 above should be used, e.g.
"... should be tested in accordance with specifications at least equivalent
to those acceptable to the Organization".
19 The standards referred to in footnotes should
clearly indicate their edition, such as the number or the effective
date. When amended by the relevant industry organization, the revised
edition of the standards should be approved by the relevant Committee
and the footnote amended accordingly.
20 The provisions of paragraph 11 should apply, mutatis mutandis, to the standards referred to in paragraph
18.1.2.