1 The Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its seventy-third session (22 to 26
October 2018), urged Parties to MARPOL Annex VI and other Member Governments to inform the
Organization of the availability of compliant fuel oils in its ports and terminals via the
GISIS MARPOL Annex VI module well in advance of 1 January 2020.
2 MEPC 70 in October 2016 decided to retain 1 January 2020 as the effective date of
implementation for the 0.50% m/m sulphur limit for fuel oil used on board ships operating
outside emission control areas designated for the control of sulphur oxides.
3 MEPC 71 in July 2017, approved the new output on consistent implementation of the 0.50%
m/m sulphur limit, and also agreed to the holding of an intersessional meeting dedicated to
progressing this output.
4 MEPC 73 in October 2018, approved MEPC.1/Circ.878 Guidance on the development of a
ship implementation plan for the consistent implementation of the 0.50% sulphur limit
under MARPOL Annex VI includes guidance on the procurement of compliant fuel
oil.
5 Pursuant to regulation 18.1 of MARPOL Annex VI, Parties to MARPOL Annex VI should take all reasonable steps to promote the availability of
fuel oils that comply with MARPOL Annex VI and inform the Organization of the availability of compliant
fuel oils in its ports and terminals.
6 The twenty-eighth session of the IMO Assembly adopted resolution A.1074(28) on
Notification and circulation through the Global Integrated Shipping Information System
(GISIS). Resolution A.1074(28) agreed that GISIS should be considered as an
effective way for Contracting Governments or Parties to IMO instruments to fulfil their
reporting obligations under the various mandatory IMO instruments.
7 Availability of fuels can be reported using the MARPOL Annex VI module on
GISIS (https://gisis.imo.org). For regulation 18.1 of MARPOL Annex VI, the information that can be added is set out in the annex.