RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment
Protection Committee (the Committee) conferred upon it by international
conventions for the prevention and control of marine pollution,
NOTING resolution MEPC.159(55) by
which the Committee adopted, at its fifty-fifth session, the Revised
Guidelines on implementation of effluent standards and performance
tests for sewage treatment plants (the Revised Guidelines)
and invited Governments to apply the Revised Guidelines when approving
sewage treatment plants and provide the Organization with information
on experience gained with their application, in particular, on successful
testing of equipment against the standards contained in the Revised
Guidelines,
NOTING ALSO resolution MEPC.200(62) by
which the Committee adopted, at its sixty-second session, amendments
to MARPOL Annex IV concerning Special
Area provisions and the designation of the Baltic Sea as a special
area, which are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2013,
NOTING FURTHER the provisions of regulations 9.1.1 and 9.2.1 of MARPOL Annex IV, in which reference
is made to the above-mentioned Revised Guidelines,
RECOGNIZING that the Revised Guidelines should be amended
in order that current trends for the protection of the marine environment,
the need to address particular oceanographical and ecological conditions
of the special area designated, and developments in the design and
effectiveness of commercially available sewage treatment plants be
reflected; and the proliferation of differing unilateral more stringent
standards that might be imposed worldwide be avoided,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Sub-Committee
on Ship Design and Equipment, at its fifty-sixth session,
1 ADOPTS the 2012 Guidelines on implementation
of effluent standards and performance tests for sewage treatment plants,
the text of which is set out in the annex to this resolution;
2 INVITES governments to:
3 ALSO INVITES Governments to issue an appropriate
"Certificate of type approval for sewage treatment plants" as referred
to in paragraph 5.4.2 and the annex of the 2012 Guidelines and to
recognize certificates issued under the authority of other Governments
as having the same validity as certificates issued by them;
4 SUPERSEDES the Revised Guidelines on implementation
of effluent standards and performance tests for sewage treatment plants,
adopted by resolution MEPC.159(55).