POLLUTION OF THE SEA 



The United Nations 



Background 



In 1954, an international conference was held to consider 

 the problem of oil pollution in the oceans and an International 

 Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil 

 was established. This was amended in 1962 to enlarge the zones 

 in which discharge of persistent oils are prohibited and to re- 

 strict completely discharge from certain types of ships. The 

 prohibited zones now include all sea areas within fifty miles 

 from land, and extend even closer near some coasts. This Con- 

 vention is administered through the cooperative machinery of 

 the Inter- Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization 

 (IMCO), and is presently the only existing international instru- 

 ment exclusively addressed to the prevention and control of 

 pollution of the sea. There are thirty-seven countries, including 

 all of the major maritime nations, which have accepted the 

 Convention. These nations cooperate on the legal, navigational, 

 and technical aspects to allow rapid and effective measures to 

 be taken when major accidental spillage occurs. 



Until the mid-1960's, international attention was focused 

 on efforts to prevent pollution by oil and radioactive substances. 

 However, the growing danger to fisheries as a result of chemical 

 pollution and the dumping of industrial wastes into the sea 

 which could no longer be discharged inland became increasingly 

 evident. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the 

 U. N. established an inter-governmental Committee on Fisheries 

 (COFI) which has directed its attention to the broad fishery 

 aspects of marine pollution for the past two years. 



Several studies have been undertaken including those by 

 the Advisory Committee on Marine Resources Research (ACM 

 RR), the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR), and 

 the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). These 

 have helped to clarify the requirements for further internation- 

 al action with respect to research, monitoring, and future legis- 

 lation. 



Recent Developments 



General. In April 1968, the Secretary-General treated the 

 scientific and technical aspects of pollution as urgent problems 

 in his report prepared under Resolution 2172 (XXI), and 

 pointed out that a high degree of satisfactory concerted action 

 was being attained through existing machinery. The Adminis- 

 trative Committee on Coordination (ACC) through its Sub- 

 committee on Marine Science and its Applications has played 

 a key role in gathering information and suggestions on which 

 a reaUstic expanded and coordinated program can be based. 

 Groups within the U. N. which have been primarily concerned 

 with these problems include IMCO, FAO, UNESCO, the Inter- 



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