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and educational material for Its members. Their participation 

 has been outstanding and Is an excellent example of the 

 Industry's responsiveness to the problem. 



INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS 



From Its earliest Involvement In the nonlndlgenous aquatic 

 nuisance Issue, the Coast Guard has been a part of the 

 International effort necessary to effectively prevent unwanted 

 Introductions of aquatic species. The Australians were the first 

 to sound the alarm In the International community, followed soon 

 thereafter by Canada. Australia Issued voluntary guidelines and 

 asked the other maritime nations to consider them. These 

 guidelines were followed closely by Canadian guidelines and then 

 joint Canadian/United States guidelines. There were no other 

 international standards for ballast water management, however. 

 Through the urging of Australia, Canada, and the United States, 

 the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International 

 Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted voluntary ballast water 

 management guidelines in July 1991 as Resolution MEPC. 50(31). 

 These guidelines are closely based on the voluntary efforts that 

 were in use at the time by the United States, Canada, and 

 Australia. They call for member nations to request that their 

 ships follow ballast water management practices and they ask any 

 state that should Implement mandatory regulations to do so based 

 on the guidelines. To date, the United States is the only nation 

 to have mandatory ballast water management and in developing the 



