IMO MEPC 66 Summary Report on Ship Recycling London, 31 March - 04 April 2014 BUREAU VERITAS Marine & Offshore Division Compliance & Regulations
Contents Introduction Item: MEPC 66 Outcome on Ship Recycling Current status of the Hong Kong Convention Development of threshold values for asbestos and related matters Current status Future action Development of threshold values for radioactive substances Current status Future action Report to MEPC 67 Contacts Additional information and advice can be provided upon request. Please contact: Compliance & Regulation Department, c&r_iad@bureauveritas.com 2
Introduction MEPC IMO committee MEPC (Marine environment protection committee) is the committee deciding on amendments to mandatory instruments which aim for the protection of the marine environment. MEPC is the parent body to the subcommittee PPR. The meeting took place in London from 31 March to 04 April 2014 under the chairmanship of Mr. Arsenio Dominguez (Panama) and Dr. Naomi Parker (New Zealand) as vice chair. Scope of the summary report The scope of this summary report is to provide information on the status of the amendments and guidelines related to mandatory instruments and to provide a summary of the technical developments. Status Approved Amendments or draft text as provided by sub-committees are approved by MEPC, circulated and are usually adopted in a next committee sessions. Adopted Adopted amendments or draft text means that the approved text is adopted with indication of entry into force. Usually entry into force is tacitly accepted at a minimum one year later than the adoption date. Entry into force Amendments or draft text which has been adopted will enter into force at a specific date decided by the committee. 3
MEPC 66 Outcome on Ship Recycling Current status of the Hong Kong Convention Only one State (Norway) has acceded to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (Hong Kong Convention) The delegation of France, informed the Committee that France expects to ratify the Hong Kong Convention within two months' time Development of threshold values for asbestos and related matters Current status The Committee noted that SDC 1 (MEPC 66/11/2, paragraphs 13 and 14), having been instructed by MSC 92 to consider the matter following a request by MEPC 65, had endorsed a compromise proposal of 0.1% as the threshold value and a footnote including a reference to the UN recommendation "Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)" as the basis for the value and a relaxation clause which allows the 1% threshold to be applied, subject to this being recorded in the Material Declaration and the IHM Future action Setting a threshold level for asbestos was not possible. The MEPC 66 agreed to refer this issue to the correspondence group for further discussion 4
MEPC 66 Outcome on Ship Recycling Development of threshold values for radioactive substances Current status MEPC 65 had instructed the Secretariat to liaise with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to seek guidance on the threshold value for radioactive substances. In this connection, the Committee considered document MEPC 66/3/2 (Secretariat), providing a proposal by IAEA for a practical procedure to detect radioactive sources, radioactive materials and/or radioactive contamination during the recycling of ships and related actions. Future action The MEPC 66 instructed the Secretariat to further liaise with IAEA to develop guidance on the threshold value for radioactive substances, with a view to facilitating finalization of the issue at a future session of the Committee Report to MEPC 67 The correspondence group shall finalize the development of threshold values, exemptions and bulk listings applicable to the materials to be listed in Inventories of Hazardous Materials and prepare relevant amendments to the 2011 Guidelines for the Development of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (resolution MEPC.197(62)) accordingly 5
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