538 



Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) — which serves as the Secretariat 

 for the Convention — for the purpose of technical advice, specifically with 

 reference to the content of the Annexes to the Convention as they pertain 

 to radioactive substances. 



The regulatory regime created by Art. IV of the Convention is subject 

 to exceptions contained in Art. V. The relevant exception here allows 

 issuance of a special permit for ocean dumping of substances prohibited 

 by Art. IV, Sec. (1) (a) , including HLW, "in emergencies, posing unacceptable 

 risk relating to human health and admitting no other feasible solution." 

 Before such a permit can be granted, however, the responsible State is 

 obliged to consult "any other country or countries that are likely to be 

 affected," as well as IMCO. IMCO is supposed to recommend procedures for 

 such dumping, after consultations with affected States and other interna- 

 tional organizations (presumably the IAEA) . The State proposing to issue 

 an emergency permit for the dumping of prohibited wastes is instructed to 

 follow IMCO's recommendations "to the maximum extent feasible consistent 

 with the time within which action must be taken and with the general obli- 

 gation to avoid damage to the marine environment." A State so acting is 

 also obliged to notify IMCO of the action it has taken. 



The definition of "disposal at sea" under the Convention is also sub- 

 ject to an exemption contained in Art. Ill, Sec. (1) (b) (ii) . Under that 

 section, "placement of matter for a purpose other than the mere disposal 

 thereof" is not considered dumping, "provided that such placement is not 

 contrary to the aims" of the Convention. At the time the Convention was 

 drafted, there was apparently little indication that sub-seabed disposal 

 of nuclear wastes was a technically feasible option. Soon afterward. 



