1,721,017 research outputs found
Alien species stay home: The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water
No full textThe transfer of organisms by ships has been altering the ecosystems for many decades. Living organisms within ballast water is part of this problem. Where ballast water has been taken from heavily polluted areas then potential risks for human health are also created. The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water (the Ballast Water Convention—referred to hereafter as the BWC) is the first international attempt to provide a legal and technical instrument for a risk that was not so far covered by any legal regime. The BWC imposes obligations both on the flag and the port states and provides for a certification system that will eventually be able to regulate ballast water management. Ambitious ballast water quality standards are included but they will not be imposed until 2016 when a new generation of ships having the required new technology will be developed. These strict standards are subject to review on the basis of their feasibility and cost implications. In the meantime only some basic precautions and restrictions, together with a complex surveying and certification system, will be imposed. Moreover, these restrictions will only be imposed if they do not cause delay or deviation for the ships, arguably making one wonder whether the problem is indeed a serious and imminent threat to the environment
Recycling of EU ships: from prohibition to regulation
No full textShips are recycled where their scrap value is highest. Because ships travel and can change flag quickly, the legal framework of the 1989 Basel Convention has been inefficient. The 2009 Ship Recycling Convention (“SRC”) tackled the problem by developing international standards for recycling facilities and designing a documentary system suitable for ships. The 10th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention encouraged ratification of the SRC but evidenced differing views on whether the SRC provides a level of control equivalent to that of the Basel Convention. This means that there is no consensus on whether the SRC system can replace the Basel Convention system. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU-SRR), approved by the European Parliament in November 2013, is a bold instrument, which aims to support the SRC and deal efficiently with the problem of ship recycling. The EU-SRR unilaterally removes EU ships from the scope of the Basel Convention. At the same time it significantly increases the requirements that need to be complied with, both in relation to the hazardous substances that can be contained in a ship destined for recycling but also in relation to the requirements of approved ship recycling facilities (SRFs), including an indirect exclusion of beaching as a recycling technique for EU-flagged ships. The exclusion of EU ships from the Basel Convention, as well as the additional SRC requirements, raise questions on its legality, efficiency and policy objectives which are discussed in this paper
Performance-based regulation and the development of international regulatory uniformity in offshore oil and gas operations
No full textThis chapter analyses several national regulatory regimes as part of a positive analysis. Their similarities and differences form the basis for assessing the degree if international harmonisation amongst them. The normative analysis is based in Aalders' and Wilthagen's four stategies for "regulating the self-regulators": systems monitoring, intermediary structures and networks, corporate social responsibility, and other market-oriented regulatory tools. In the end, the examination will show that progress in harmonisation of systems monitoring has been the result of companies' need to develop uniformity in their safety management systems. The other three strategies are less developed. In short, there is no international quasi-regulation of the offshore industry, despite the harmonisation of some of the industrial standards within groups of companies
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