Resolution A.903(22)

RELATIONS WITH NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

(Adopted on 29 November 2001)

THE ASSEMBLY,

RECALLING Part XV of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization, and in particular Article 62;

RECALLING that rule 1 of the Rules Governing Relationship with Non-Governmental International Organizations requires that consultative status granted by the Council to such organizations be subject to approval by the Assembly;

RECALLING FURTHER that rule 10 of the same Rules provides for periodic review by the Council of the list of non-governmental international organizations in consultative status with IMO and for a report to be submitted to the Assembly on the continuation of such status;

NOTING the Guidelines on the Grant of Consultative Status established by the Council at its fortieth session, and noting further the decision of the Council at its eighty-sixth session to amend the introduction to the Guidelines as well as rules 1 and 5 of the Rules Governing Relationship with Non-Governmental International Organizations, in order to formalize the grant of provisional consultative status;

HAVING NOTED the decision of the Council at its eighty-sixth session to maintain consultative status with the organizations enjoying that status with IMO, and, in respect of those organizations which did not attend or submit documents to IMO meetings during the past biennium, to maintain the consultative status of the International Association of Producers of Insurance and Reinsurance (BIPAR) and the International Maritime Lecturers' Association (IMLA);

HAVING CONSIDERED the decision of the Council to approve the grant of consultative status to the International Harbour Masters' Association (IHMA), the Vessel Operators Hazardous Materials Association (VOHMA), the International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA), the International Bulk Terminals Association (IBTA) and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA);

NOTING the decision of the Council to convert the provisional status granted to the World Nuclear Transport Institute (WNTI) to full consultative status, and to retain the provisional consultative status of the Association of European Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers (AWES), as well as that of the International Ship Suppliers Association (ISSA), which is encouraged by the Council to participate in the work of the Legal Committee as well as in the work of other Committees in which it has an interest;

RECALLING the concerns of the Council expressed at its eighty-sixth session that the ships of Greenpeace International are believed to be violating the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and noting the letter of 25 July 2001 from Greenpeace International reaffirming and reinforcing the commitment it made at the seventeenth session of the Assembly to comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and noting the decision of the Council that the activities of Greenpeace International be monitored until the next review under Rule 10 of the Rules Governing Relationship with Non-Governmental International Organizations;

WELCOMING the action taken by the Council to remind all non-governmental organizations of the importance of their complying with their undertakings to the Organization under rule 4 of the Rules Governing Relationship with Non-Governmental International Organizations, and noting the undertakings expressed by all the non-governmental organizations;

NOTING IN PARTICULAR that in accordance with previous decisions of the Council, the attention of organizations in consultative status should be drawn to their obligations to take all appropriate steps to contribute to the work of IMO in their respective fields of work;

1. APPROVES the decision by the Council to amend the introduction to the Guidelines on the Grant of Consultative Status and rules 1 and 5 of the Rules Governing Relationship with Non-Governmental International Organizations;

2. APPROVES the decision by the Council with regard to the grant of consultative status to the International Harbour Masters' Association (IHMA), the Vessel Operators Hazardous Materials Association (VOHMA), the International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA), the International Bulk Terminals Association (IBTA) and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA); further approves the decision by the Council to convert the status of the World Nuclear Transport Institute (WNTI) into full status; and

3. ENDORSES the decision of the Council regarding the enjoyment of consultative status by the following organizations: