consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the 

 Coast Guard, took the lead in drafting a paper which was 

 submitted to the Committee by the Coast Guard in late 1986. 

 Among other things, the paper proposed terms of reference for 

 future work on the Annex as might appropriately be undertaken 

 by the Committee's Working Group on Optional Annexes, and it 

 also proposed that the Committee develop recommended guidelines 

 on actions to implement Annex V. 



A representative of the Commission participated as an 

 observer on the U.S. delegation to the Committee's 24th Session. 

 During the meeting, the aforementioned U.S. paper and its 

 proposed actions on Annex V was referred to the Committee ' s 

 Working Group on Optional Annexes. Based on the proposal in 

 the U.S. paper, the Working Group recommended adopting the terms 

 of reference for future work on Annex V. These call upon the 

 Group to: (a) review information on the nature and magnitude 

 of problems caused by ship-generated garbage; (b) review infor- 

 mation on the effectiveness of actions to implement Annex V; 

 (c) identify and recommend actions to reduce and monitor adverse 

 effects of ship-generated garbage; (d) identify and recommend 

 actions to facilitate development of adequate port reception 

 facilities; and (e) provide advice and recommendation on inter- 

 preting or amending the provision of Annex V. 



The Working Group also concurred with the recommendation 

 in the U.S. paper to develop guidelines on implementing and 

 enforcing Annex V. To help prepare those guidelines, the 

 Working Group developed an annotated outline, with the following 

 major headings: training, education and information; minimizing 

 the amount of potential garbage; shipboard storage and handling 

 procedures for garbage; shipboard equipment and processing of 

 garbage; port facilities to receive garbage; and ensuring 

 compliance with Annex V. 



The Working Group's recommendations for terms of reference 

 and developing guidelines on Annex V were adopted by the 

 Committee in Plenary Session and, to facilitate further work 

 on the matter, the U.S. delegation agreed to prepare a draft 

 set of recommended guidelines for consideration at the 25th 

 Session of the Committee, subsequently held in December 1987. 



25th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Commit- 

 tee, 30 November-3 December 1987: To help prepare for the 

 25th Session of the Committee, the National Oceanic and Atmos- 

 pheric Administration, in consultation with the Coast Guard 

 and the Marine Mammal Commission, took the lead in preparing 

 an initial draft set of guidelines on implementing Annex V. 

 By letter of 17 August 1987, the Marine Mammal Commission, in 

 consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, provided 

 comments to the Administration on an initial draft. The 



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