Resolution A.912(22)

 

REVISED SELF-ASSESSMENT OF FLAG STATE PERFORMANCE

(adopted on 29 November 2001)

 

THE ASSEMBLY,

 

RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and guidelines on maritime safety and the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,

 

RECALLING ALSO that one of the goals of the Organization is the consistent and effective implementation of IMO instruments globally and compliance with their requirements,

 

RECALLING FURTHER that amongst the objectives of the Organization is the assessment of the current level of implementation and the identification of those areas where flag States have difficulties in fully implementing IMO instruments to which they are party, paying special attention to difficulties encountered by Governments,

 

FURTHER RECALLING that, through of resolutions A.777(18) and A.900(21), it reaffirmed the content of resolution A.500(XII) and thus the assignment of the highest priority to promoting the implementation of relevant international instruments for the improvement of maritime safety and pollution prevention,

 

RECOGNIZING that Governments are required to meet and fulfill the obligations and the responsibilities which are set forth in international regulations, procedures and practices contained in IMO instruments and other mandatory instruments to which they are Parties and to take any steps which may be necessary to secure their observance,

 

RECOGNIZING ALSO that Parties to international conventions, such as: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS); the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS 1974) and its 1988 Protocol; the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, as amended (MARPOL 73/78); the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, as amended (COLREG 1972); the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (LL 1966) and its 1988 Protocol; and the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 (TONNAGE 1969), have, as part of the ratification process, accepted the obligation under applicable international law fully to meet their responsibilities and to discharge their obligations as prescribed by the conventions and other instruments to which they are Party,

 

REAFFIRMING its desire that ships comply at all times with maritime safety and pollution prevention standards laid down in relevant international instruments,

 

REAFFIRMING ALSO that flag States have the primary responsibility to have in place an adequate and effective system to exercise control over ships entitled to fly their flag, and to ensure that they comply with relevant international rules and regulations,

 

HAVING ADOPTED resolution A.847(20) on Guidelines to Assist Flag States in the Implementation of IMO Instruments; resolution A.739(18) on Guidelines for the authorization of organizations acting on behalf of the Administration; and resolution A.789(19) on Specifications on the survey and certification functions of recognized organizations acting on behalf of the Administration and resolution A.881(21) on Self-assessment of flag State performance,

 

NOTING circular MSC/Circ.954/MEPC/Circ.373 by which the Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its forty-fourth session, and the Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-second session, approved criteria and performance indicators for the self-assessment of flag state performance,

 

NOTING ALSO that, while States may realize certain benefits by becoming party to instruments aiming at promoting maritime safety and the prevention of pollution from ships, these desired benefits can only be fully achieved when all Parties concerned carry out their obligations as required by the instruments concerned,

 

NOTING FURTHER that the ultimate effectiveness of any instrument depends, inter-alia, upon all States:

 

a) becoming party to the instruments mentioned above;

 

b) implementing them fully and effectively; and

 

c) reporting to the Organization, as required,

 

CONSCIOUS of the difficulties a number of Governments may face in giving full and complete effect to all the provisions of the various IMO instruments to which, they are Party,

 

RECOGNIZING that any such difficulties need to be minimized, and that for that reason the Organization has established and maintains an integrated Technical Co-operation Programme,

 

BEING DESIROUS to further assist Governments in improving their capabilities and performance as flag States and in giving full and complete effect to the instruments to which they are Party,

 

RECALLING that, at its twenty-first session, when adopting resolution A.881(21), it requested the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment Protection Committee to keep the Guidance under continuous review and to update it in the light of their work on the matter,

 

HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendations made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its seventy-fourth session and by the Marine Environment Protection Committee at its forty-sixth session,

 

1. ADOPTS:

 

a) the Guidance to assist flag States in the self-assessment of their performance, as set out in the Annex 1 to the present resolution;

 

b) the Criteria and performance indicators for the self- assessment of flag State performance, as set out in Annex 2 to the present resolution;

 

2. URGES Governments, in their efforts to improve safety of life at sea and to protect the marine environment, to carry out, at regular intervals at their discretion, a self-assessment of their capabilities and performance in giving full and complete effect to the various instruments to which they are Party;

 

3. URGES ALSO Governments to use the Guidance and Criteria and performance indicators, in conjunction with resolution A.847(20) and to bear in mind the relevant provisions of the various IMO instruments to which they are Party, when assessing their performance as a flag State in the context of these instruments;

 

4. ENCOURAGES Governments, when seeking technical assistance from or through the Organization, to provide the Secretary-General with the results of their most recent self-assessment, so as to enable and assist the Secretary-General to identify, qualify and quantify, in consultation with the State concerned, the needs and the priorities of the State in question. For this purpose, any submission of the results is not a prerequisite for seeking or obtaining technical assistance. In this respect, the contents of any such submission are to be treated with the utmost and strictest confidence and the name of the submitting Government will only be released with the expressed consent of the Government concerned;

 

5. INVITES Governments to submit, on a voluntary basis, to the Organization a copy of their self-assessment report in order to enable the establishment of a database which would assist the Organization in its efforts to achieve consistent and effective implementation of IMO instruments;

 

6. REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment Protection Committee to consider other measures necessary to ensure the effective and consistent global implementation of IMO instruments and, in doing so, to pay particular attention to any special difficulties faced by Governments;

 

7. REQUESTS ALSO the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment Protection Committee to keep the Guidance and the Guidance and Criteria and performance indicators under continuous review and to update them in the light of their work on the matter;

 

8. REVOKES resolution A.881(21).

 

 

Annex 1.

GUIDANCE TO ASSIST FLAG STATES IN THE SELF-ASSESSMENT OF THEIR PERFORMANCE

General obligations of flag States

 

1. It is the responsibility of flag States to ensure that they establish and maintain measures for the effective application and enforcement of the IMO instruments to which they are a Party. From the point of view of flag State implementation the most significant IMO instruments are:

 

.1 the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS 74), as amended;

 

.2 the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78), as amended;

 

.3 the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (LL 66);

 

.4 the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW 78), as amended;

 

.5 the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, (COLRLG 72), as amended; and

 

.6 the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 (Tonnage 69).

 

Regard should also be given to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

 

2. Having accepted an instrument, a Government is bound by the provisions of the instrument to promulgate laws in relation to the implementation of its provisions through appropriate national legislation (e.g. SOLAS 74 article l(b)). The undertaking to give effect to the provisions of the relevant instrument (e.g. SOLAS 74 article l(a)) means that the Government must have a functioning legislative body to enact laws for ships flying its flag and to provide for their subsequent implementation and enforcement.

 

Internal criteria for the assessment of flag State performance

 

3. «Internal» criteria are those which are directly relevant to the operation of the flag State as an Administration and are designed to give a clear indication of the effectiveness of a flag State Administration in fulfilling its obligations under the instruments. Guidance on flag State responsibilities is contained in Assembly resolution A.847(20) on Guidelines to assist flag States in the implementation of IMO instruments. Article 94 of UNCLOS also sets out the duties of the State Parties (Article 1.2(1)). Article 217 of UNCLOS is also relevant in detailing the enforcement responsibilities of flag States. Based on international instruments, a flag State has responsibilities relating, in particular, to setting legal requirements to give national effect to the instruments to which it is a Party; enforcement of those requirements; authorization of organizations acting on its behalf and casualty investigation. These are considered in more detail below.

 

Legal framework

 

4. A flag State should:

 

.1 take measures to ensure safety at sea and pollution prevention for ships entitled to fly its flag with regard to:

 

.1 the construction, equipment and management of ships;

.2 the principles and rules with respect to the limits to which ships may be loaded;

.3 the prevention, reduction and control of pollution of the marine environment and the minimization of the impact of accidental discharges of pollutants;

.4 the manning of ships and the training of crews; and

.5 the safety of navigation (including taking part in mandatory reporting and routing systems), maintenance of communications and prevention of collisions;

 

2. promulgate laws which permit effective jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag and, in particular, relating to the inspection of ships, safety and pollution prevention laws applying to such ships and the making of associated regulations; and

 

.3 promulgate laws providing the legal basis for the establishment of a registry and maintain a register of ships flying its flag.

 

Enforcement

 

5. A flag State should:

 

.1 provide for the enforcement of its national laws, including the associated investigative and penalty processes;

 

.2 take appropriate action against ships flying its flag that fail to comply with applicable requirements;

 

.3 ensure the availability of sufficient personnel with maritime and technical expertise to carry out its flag State responsibilities, including:

 

.1 the development and enforcement of necessary national laws;

.2 the establishment and maintenance of minimum safe manning levels on board ships flying its flag and provision of effective certification of seafarers;

.3 the inspection of ships flying its flag to ensure compliance with the requirements of international instruments to which the flag State is a Party;

.4 the reporting of casualties and incidents as required by the respective instruments; and

.5 the investigation of circumstances following any detention of ships flying its flag.

 

Responsibility of recognized organizations acting on behalf of the Administration

 

6. In the case where a flag State authorizes third party organizations to act on its behalf, i.e. recognized organizations, any delegation of authority to these recognized organizations must be clearly recorded and shall follow as a minimum the Guidelines for the Authorization of Organizations Acting on Behalf of the Administration (A.739(18)) and the Specifications on the survey and certification functions of recognized organizations acting on behalf of the Administration (A.789(19)). The requirements in SOLAS 74, chapter I, regulation 6(c), and the analogous requirements of MARPOL 73/78 should be included in any delegation of authority. The flag State must also take full responsibility for all safety and pollution prevention certificates issued under the relevant instruments by it or on its behalf.

 

Casualty and incident investigation

 

7. A flag State should undertake prompt and thorough casualty and incident investigations and submit relevant reports to IMO, as appropriate.

 

External criteria for the assessment of flag State performance

 

8. «External» criteria refer to information, in particular port State control data and casualty accident data, which may also be taken to be indicators of the way in which a flag State is performing. The following are indicators of the way in which the flag State is performing but do not relate directly to the organization of the flag State's Administration. When used as indicators, the criteria listed as 8.1 to 8.5 must be considered in proportion to the overall number of ships flying its flag, subject to international instruments to which the State is a Party.

 

.1 Number of accidents, casualties and incidents report-able to IMO in terms of the requirements of the international casualty database.

 

.2 Number of accidents involving personal injuries leading to absence from duty of 3 days or more on board ships flying the flag of the State concerned.

 

.3 Number of lives lost on its ships resulting from the operation of ships flying its flag.

 

.4 Number of ships lost.

 

.5 Number of incidents of loss of pollutants into the sea according to MARPOL 73/78 reporting standards, including a measure of the seriousness of the incidents.

 

.6 Number of ships detained by other States under port State control procedures.

 

.7 Communication to IMO of information required in mandatory instruments.

 

Self-assessment form

 

9. Based on the internal and external criteria outlined above, a self-assessment form is attached. The primary objective of the form is to assist flag States in assessing their performance against these criteria. Questions relating to the STCW Convention have not been included because that instrument has its own assessment procedures.

 

 

Appendix

 

FLAG STATE PERFORMANCE SELF-ASSESSMENT FORM

 

All questions relate to merchant ships flying the flag of the State concerned

GENERAL

INTERNAL CRITERIA

Legal framework

Enforcement

Recognized organizations acting on behalf of the Administration

Casualty and incident investigation