1998 Year of the Ocean A Survey of International Agreements 



Guinea, Solomon Islands. Tonga. Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Japan. Taiwan, China, 

 Korea, the Philippines, and the United States. 



MARINE TRANSPORTATION 



Convention on the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, 1948 



The Convention establishing the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, 

 a specialized agency of the United Nations, entered into force in 1958. The name of the 

 organization was changed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1982. The 

 purpose of the IMO is to provide machinery for cooperation among goverrmients in 

 governmental regulation, policy, and practice relating to technical matters of all kinds that affect 

 shipping engaged in international trade. It aims to encourage and facilitate the adoption of the 

 highest practicable standards in matters concerning maritime safety, efficiency of navigation, and 

 prevention and control of marine pollution from ships. The IMO has 155 member states and two 

 associate members. Many non-governmental organizations and observers also participate in IMO 

 meetings. Since its inception, 30 Conventions and Protocols and over 700 codes and 

 recommendations concerning maritime safety, prevention of marine pollution, and related 

 matters have been adopted under the auspices of the IMO, some of which are discussed below. 

 The IMO also focuses on the effective enforcement and implementation of these conventions, 

 codes, and other instruments. 



International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC), 1969; 

 International Convention Establishing a Fund for Compensation of Oil Pollution Damage 



(Fund Convention), 1971 



The CLC and Fund Convention were negotiated in 1969 and 1971 respectively, to 

 establish an international regime of liability and compensation for pollution damage from oil 

 tanker spills. The CLC established a regime of strict liability on tanker owners to pay for damage 

 up to $20 million. Above this amount, the international fund created by the Fund Convention 

 provides additional compensation up to a total per incident of about $86 million. The United 

 States never ratified these conventions, due in large part to the limits which were considered 

 insufficient to cover damages and cleanup costs from major oil spills. In 1984. Protocols were 

 negotiated to both conventions which increased ship owner liability to a maximum of nearly $86 

 million, and increased the total per incident compensation to about $194 million (the total 

 compensation would rise to about $260 million if the United States were a party). After further 

 technical amendments, these Protocols were adopted in 1992 and entered into force 

 internationally in 1996. The United States is not a party to either Protocol and has adopted a 

 unilateral domestic liability and compensation regime. 



J-17 



