Hong Kong Convention, 2013 Edition

Ship recycling was first brought to the attention of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1998, when Norway proposed that it be included as a high priority item in the work programme of the MEPC, in order to develop an internationally acceptable instrument for reducing environmental, occupational, health and safety risks associated with the demolition and scrapping of ships that had reached the end of their useful operating life. In March 2000, ship recycling was formally included in the agenda of the MEPC 44 session. Ship recycling is a long established practice for dealing with ships at the end of their commercial life and is widely regarded as the best, ie, most practicable, option. It contributes to sustainable development because virtually every part of a ship’s hull, machinery, equipment, fittings and even furniture is recycled for re-use in many different sectors. This is particularly the case in less developed countries where the recycling industry creates economic development for local and regional communities, generating large scale direct employment as well as additional employment and economic activity from its associated industries, including extensive trading in second hand equipment and machinery. While the principle of ship recycling is sound, the working practices and environmental standards in recycling facilities often leave much to be desired. Following extensive discussion over several sessions of the MEPC, the IMO Guidelines on Ship Recycling were adopted by the IMO Assembly (twenty-third session) through Assembly resolution A.962(23) of 5 December 2003, to provide guidance to all stakeholders involved in ship recycling. Amendments to the Guidelines were adopted by the Assembly two years later (twenty-fourth session) through Assembly resolution A.980(24) of 1 December 2005. The Guidelines apply a ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach, recognising that it is necessary to take account of the ship throughout its life cycle in order to improve ship recycling standards. At the twenty-fourth Assembly, it was also decided that a new IMO instrument should be developed in order to minimize the environmental, occupational, health and safety risks associated with ship recycling in the most effective, efficient and sustainable way whilst, at the same time, taking account of the particular characteristics of international shipping and the need to ensure the smooth withdrawal of end-of-life ships. This decision was in line with the request of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention in its Decision VII/26, at the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of its Parties in October 2004, for IMO to establish in its regulations mandatory requirements that ensure an equivalent level of control as established under the Basel Convention and to continue work aimed at the establishment of mandatory requirements to ensure the environmentally sound management of ship dismantling. Specifically, it was decided that the new instrument should be mandatory in nature and global in scope, providing legally binding and globally applicable regulations for ships and for facilities recycling ships. It was further envisaged that the instrument would address the design, construction and operational practices of ships with a view to facilitating their safe and environmentally sound recycling, and the operational systems and procedures of ship recycling facilities in order to improve upon their safety and environmental standards. The instrument would also foresee an appropriate enforcement mechanism, including certification and reporting requirements. Accordingly, from 2005 onwards, the Working Group on Ship Recycling, established by the MEPC, focused on the development of a new IMO convention on ship recycling. The draft text was developed with input from IMO Member States and relevant non-governmental organizations, and in co-operation with the International Labour Organization and the Parties to the Basel Convention, and their respective Secretariats. On 15 May 2009, the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (the Hong Kong Convention) was adopted by a diplomatic Conference in Hong Kong, China, together with six conference resolutions. The Convention was open for signature at the IMO Headquarters Hong Kong Convention viii from 1 September 2009 until 31 August 2010. Thereafter, it became open for accession. The Hong Kong Convention has not yet entered into force. Several articles and regulations of the Hong Kong Convention make reference to guidelines to be developed by the Organization. Correspondingly, the diplomatic Conference adopted Conference resolution 4 inviting IMO to develop, as a matter of urgency, six specific sets of guidelines, and other guidelines or circulars as may be identified by the MEPC, and to adopt them as soon as practicable and, in any case, before the entry-into-force of the Hong Kong Convention, with a view to facilitating its global and uniform implementation. As instructed by the Conference, the MEPC developed and adopted the six sets of guidelines identified in Conference resolution 4. The first guidelines were adopted by MEPC 59 in July 2009 and subsequently amended by MEPC 62 in July 2011: the 2011 Guidelines for the development of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (resolution MEPC.197(62)). Also adopted by MEPC 62 were the 2011 Guidelines for the development of the Ship Recycling Plan (resolution MEPC.196(62)). In March 2012, MEPC 63 adopted the 2012 Guidelines for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling (resolution MEPC.210(63)) and the 2012 Guidelines for the authorization of ship recycling facilities (resolution MEPC.211(63)). The remaining two sets of guidelines were adopted by MEPC 64 in October 2012: the 2012 Guidelines for the survey and certification of ships under the Hong Kong Convention (resolution MEPC.222(64)) and the 2012 Guidelines for the inspection of ships under the Hong Kong Convention (resolution MEPC.223(64)). This publication presents the texts of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009, the six Conference resolutions, and the six sets of guidelines developed and adopted by the MEPC. In addition, it presents an information document on the method to calculate the recycling capacity of States for meeting the capacity criterion of the entry-into-force requirements of the Convention.