Ratification and Domestication of Maritime Conventions CAPACITY BUILDING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION IN THE MARITIME SHIPPING INDUSTRY Ratification and Domestication of Maritime Conventions MTCC-Africa Ghana National Workshop | 04th -05th February 2019 | Tema, Ghana Presented by Lydia Ngugi |nguginlydia@gmail.com The Global MTCC Network (GMN) project is funded by the European Union and implemented by IMO The views expressed in this presentation can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union

IMO - (International Maritime Organization) It is the United Nations Specialized Agency with responsibility for the 1.Safety and 2.Security of Shipping and the 3.Prevention of Marine Pollution by Ships.

IMO's Mission Statement The mission of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a United Nations specialized agency is to promote safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and sustainable shipping through cooperation. This will be accomplished by adopting the highest practicable standards of maritime safety and security, efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of pollution from ships, as well as through consideration of the related legal matters and effective implementation of IMO’s instruments with a view to their universal and uniform application

United Nations Convention on the Law Of the Seas (UNCLOS) The UNCLOS includes extensive references to the protection of the environment. The UNCLOS recalls the importance to: “promote the peaceful uses of the seas and oceans, the equitable and efficient utilization of their resources, the conservation of their living resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the marine environment.” “prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from or through the atmosphere […] applicable to vessels” (article 212 on Pollution from or through the atmosphere)

RELEVANT IMO CONVENTION PROCEDURES Source: https://www. myseatime

Domestication of International Conventions Laws and Regulations Source: https://www.myseatime.com/blogadm/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IMO-convention-process1.jpg

HOW A STATE CAN RATIFY A CONVENTION Source:https://www. myseatime

MARPOL ANNEX VI REQUIRES PRACTICAL REPORTING PROCEDURE

MARPOL Annex VI Ratification Benin Congo Ghana Kenya Liberia Nigeria Sierra Leone South Africa Tunisia Madagascar 1st NATIONAL WORKSHOP 2017

IMPLEMENTATION OF MARPOL For IMO Conventions to be binding, Must first be ratified by member countries whose combined gross tonnage represents at least 50% of the world’s gross tonnage. A system of tacit acceptance (or opting–out system)no objection member state after a certain period has elapsed, ascension to treaty assumed.

Domestication of International Conventions Laws and Regulations A maritime treaty is adopted or amended – what happens next? IMO treaties are not self-executing and require domestic legislation to give effect to their provisions. Appropriate implementing legislation must be drafted at the national level, because international treaties can only become law when implemented into national legislation.

THANK YOU!

MTCC-Africa Consortium Members Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Host Institution