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Administrative reductions and effectivisation on the agenda
The Council of the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization held its 104th session from 7 to 11 June 2010.
Among the most important issues discussed by the 40 member States were the following:
Administrative relief
As is evident from a separate news item here, it was decided, on the basis of an initiative taken by Denmark as one among other countries, to increase the international efforts made to reduce unnecessary procedures and regulations in order to make both the industry and the authorities more efficient.
Making sessions more efficient
On the basis of a number of recommendations made by a working group under Council, it was decided to introduce a number of measures intended to make the holding of IMO meetings more efficient. This is also expected to result in savings in the Organisation. In the Danish view, it was unfortunate that some of the recommendations (that would lead to more effectivisation and cost reduction) were rejected since they had, originally, been proposed by the Scandinavian countries in the working group where they had enjoyed great support. This was true of, among other things, a proposal to amend the procedure for electing chairmen, etc., which would save up to 45 minutes effective meeting time per session (which amounts to about one-sixth of the effective meeting time), just as there was no desire to make the Council more efficient and reduce the number of Council meeting days to three in each session.
The measures adopted means, among other things, that changes will be made as regards the translation of certain documents. In the future, documents of more than 20 pages will not be translated into all working languages, but merely a comprehensive summary will be translated. Furthermore, it was considered possible to reduce the number of meeting days for a number of bodies, but the final decision will, however, not be taken until these bodies have been heard and it has been ensured that a reduction of the number of meeting days will not affect the possibility of taking the necessary decisions. In addition, the Secretariat will examine in more detail the status and rights of observers (interest and industrial organisations) (such as their right to speak) in other UN bodies with a view to the Council assessing the possibilities of requesting a financial contribution from the observers, if relevant.
Public access to IMO documents
The Council debated the possibility of the public getting increased access to IMO documents. Previously, the Council had decided that only a minor part of the Organisation’s documents should be accessible to the general public. This policy has not been fully implemented yet since there are certain capacity restrictions in relation to the IMO webpage, but efforts are being made to find a solution.
A number of countries, including Denmark, found it important to grant the general public access to the Organisation’s documents to a wider extent when the necessary computer systems are in place.
World Maritime University
The Council debated the financial situation of the World Maritime University in Malmø, Sweden. Since a number of donors have decided to stop supporting the university financially, the university is in acute need for financial means. Consequently, the Council decided to pay a GBP 250,000 contribution to the financing of the university in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Furthermore, it was discussed how to secure continued financing in the future. For this purpose, it was decided to establish a correspondence group that is to examine the possibilities, including financing by member States, industrial and interest organisations, as well as the possibilities of the university being given its own sources of finance.
The International Maritime Prize 2009
Following a vote, the Council decided to award the International Maritime Prize 2009 to Mr Johan Fransson, ex-Safety at Sea Director of the Swedish Maritime Administration and, among other things, Council Chairman in the period from 2005 to 2009.
Theme of the World Maritime Day 2011
The Council decided, upon the proposal of the Secretary-General, that the theme of the World Maritime Day 2011 is to be “Piracy: Orchestrating the Response”.
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Press Contact
Main press contact
Christoffer Muusmann
Head of Section
Phone: +45 39 17 45 00
E-mail: cmu@dma.dk |
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