HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 1/13

adopted 5 May 1980 having regard to Article 13, Paragraph b) of the Helsinki Convention 

RECOMMENDATION ON REQUIREMENTS IN RESPECT OF LOADING AND UNLOADING OF HARMFUL SUBSTANCES IN PACKAGED FORMS 

THE COMMISSION,

RECALLING Paragraph B of Regulation 6 of Annex IV to the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1974, (Helsinki Convention), requiring:

(a)         masters or owners of ships or their representatives to notify the appropriate port authorities at least 24 hours in advance of the intent to load or unload harmful substances in packaged forms, or in freight containers, portable tanks or road and rail tank wagons; and

(b)         the Commission to designate the substances in respect of which such notification shall be made,

RECALLING its Recommendation 1/3 entitled "Recommendation concerning the Adoption by the Baltic Sea States of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code"

BEARING IN MIND the work being carried out by IMCO in order to update the IMDG Code and to include marine pollutants in it,

NOTING IMCO circular MEPC/Circ. 78 on the inclusion of pollutants in the IMDG Code, containing basic principles for good practice for packaged substances which are considered to present a serious hazard to the marine environment (Annex I of MEPC/Circ. 78) and a list of substances which have been identified as marine pollutants (Annex II of MEPC/Circ. 78),

HAVING CONSIDERED the advice of the Interim Commission and its Maritime Working Group,

RESOLVES to designate, for the purposes of Paragraph B of Regulation 6 of Annex IV to the Helsinki Convention, all substances listed in IMCO Circular MEPC/Circ. 78, attached to this Recommendation.

REQUESTS  Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention to implement, as soon as practicable, this Recommendation through their national legislation and to report to the Commission on action taken to this effect.

Attachment

INTERGOVERNMENTAL MARITIME CONSULTATIVE ORGANIZATION

MEPC/Circ. 78                                                            IMCO

19 September 1979

INCLUSION OF POLLUTANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME DANGEROUS GOODS (IMDG) CODE

At it s eleventh session, the Marine Environment Protection Committee approved amendments to MEPC/Circ.50 concerning the inclusion of pollutants in the IMDG Code, which had been recommended by the Sub-Committee on the Carriage of Dangerous Goods, and requested the Secretariat to prepare a revision of MEPC/Circ.50 for circulation to IMCO Member Governments.

Attached hereto is the revised text of the Circular concerning the inclusion of pollutants in the IMDG Code, which supersedes MEPC/Circ.50 in its entirety.

INCLUSION OF POLLUTANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME  DANGEROUS GOODS (IMDG) CODE

1.         At the request of the Marine Environment Protection Committee, the Sub-Committee on the Carriage of Dangerous Goods considered the question of inclusion of pollutants in the IMDG Code as called for by Resolution 19 of the International Conference on Marine Pollution, 1973.

The Resolution recommends, inter alia that:

(i)         the Organization pursue and encourage studies on the impact that the carriage by sea of such harmful substances in packaged form, or in freight containers, portable tanks, or road and rail tank wagons, may have upon the marine environment; 

(ii)        the results of such studies be directed towards the revision of the scope of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code.

2.         In response to the Recommendations of Resolution 19, the Sub-Committee having in mind the future need to provide a uniform basis for the national regulations required by Annex III to the 1973 Convention, has found it convenient to lay down basic principles for good practice for packaged substances which are considered to present a serious hazard to the marine environment. Attached at Annex 1 hereto are those principles. Attached at Annex 2 is a list of substances which have so far been identified by the Sub-Committee on the Carriage of Dangerous Goods as marine pollutants.

3.         Member Governments are invited to use this Circular as guidelines in their interim measures to protect the marine environment from pollution which might arise from the carriage of harmful substances in packaged forms, or in freight containers, portable tanks or road and rail tank wagons.

4.         Responsible utilization of this Circular by the governments will also assist the Sub-Committee on the Carriage of Dangerous Goods in gaining further information and experience concerning this subject. They are encouraged to develop technical data with regard to packing of hazardous substances which may be potential marine pollutants. Furthermore, it is considered necessary to learn more about the marine trade in those substances listed in Annex 2, e.g. which packagings were currently in use, whether they were unitized or not, and the relationship between the type of packaging used in practice and the proportion of active constituents in the substances carried in them. Governments are also urged to develop data on incidents involving the loss or damage of packages containing substances listed in Annex 2, including cases resulting in safe recovery.

ANNEX 1

PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE INCLUSION OP POLLUTANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME  DANGEROUS GOODS (IMDG) CODE

1.         Evaluation of substances

1.1       Prior to the International Conference on Marine Pollution, 1973, the Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (GESAMP) developed a rationale on the evaluation of hazards of harmful substances in the marine environment (GESAMP IV/19/Supp.1)*, in terms of their damage:

(i)         to living resources;

(ii)        to human health; and

(iii)       to amenities.

According to this rationale, GESAMP has, to date, compiled hazard profiles of some 850 substances (BCH/Circ.8).

1.2       For the purpose of Annex III to the International  Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 it was agreed that these hazard profiles should be utilized as a basis for selection of harmful polluting substances.

1.3       It was further agreed that substances with high hazard ratings should undoubtedly be considered as marine pollutants within the context of the 1973 Marine Pollution Convention and the following selection criteria were accordingly applied to the GESAMP hazard profiles to identify marine pollutants:

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*           Circulated to Governments under cover of MPS/Circ.59 on 9 May 1973.

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Note:

+          in Column A means that the substance is bioaccumulated and liable to produce a hazard to aquatic life or human health;

4          in Column B means that the substance is highly toxic to aquatic life as defined by a TLm 96 less than 1 ppm.;

3          in Column B means that the substance is moderately toxic to aquatic life as defined by a TLm 96 between 1 and 10 ppm.;

4          in Column C means that the substance is highly hazardous to human health by ingestion as defined by a LD₅₀ less than 5 mg/kg;

3          in Column C means that the substance is moderately hazardous to human health by ingestion as defined by a LD₅₀ between 5 and 50 mg/kg;

II           in Column D means that the substance in solution is hazardous to human health through skin contact and inhalation;

xxx       in Column E means that the substance, in terms of reduction of amenities, is highly objectionable because of persistency, smell or poisonous or irritant characteristics; beaches liable to be closed;

xx         in Column E means that the substance is moderately objectionable because of its characteristic similar to "xxx" substances, but they are of short-term effect leading to temporary interference with use of beaches.

1.4       A number of substances (hereinafter referred to as "marine pollutants") evaluated and selected by the above criteria, are provisionally listed in Annex II.  Chromium trioxide, Cresols, Phenols and Dinitrophenols are also included in the list, in the light of pollution experience already gained from past incidents,  although their hazard profiles would not have required their inclusion.

1.5       It was also considered that those marine pollutants, the pollution potential of which is high, i.e. the hazard profile of which shows that they are bioaccumulated (+ in Column A) and highly toxic to aquatic life (4 rating in Column B), pose a serious and long-term hazard to marine life, and warrant particular attention and control when carried in packages aboard ships, and these substances are identified with an asterisk "*" placed alongside the appropriate entries of Annex II.

1.6       It should be noted that when applying the criteria above to a list of substances evaluated by GESAMP, practically all of the substances are already controlled in the IMDG Code on the basis of their serious safety hazard. It is proposed to identify these substances on each applicable IMDG Code page by the simple notation under observation - "Marine Pollutant". However, consideration must be made of those substances which only represent a hazard to the marine environment and fall outside the IMDG Code. Such substances may be included within the IMDG Code, possibly in Class 9 or in a supplementary Class or an Annex to the IMDG Code. The possible alternative of including such substances in an Appendix to Annex III to the 1973 Marine Pollution Convention should also be borne in mind.

2.         Stowage

2.1       It is recommended that marine pollutants are stowed, if possible under deck so that the likelihood of loss overboard is minimised. It should be borne in mind, however, that the safety of the ship and crew takes precedence over matters connected with pollution of the marine environment, and certain marine pollutants may need to be stowed on deck, e.g., when so required by the IMDG Code. Nevertheless, due consideration of the pollution problem should be taken into account  before a marine pollutant is jettisoned. Marine pollutants which pose a serious and long-term hazard to marine life should be stowed in a recoverable position on a ship (such as in the square of a hold, or in a mast-house or deckhouse or similar accessible position, or on deck, firmly secured by lashings or other tie downs) to enable safe recovery from a sunken ship.

2.2       The stowage provisions are identified for each of the marine pollutants in the stowage column of Annex 2 with the following abbreviations:

ODO - on deck only

UDR - under deck recommended

RP - recoverable position.

3.         Packing 

3.1       Marine pollutants should not be carried in packagings which are likely to be quickly disintegrated by short time immersion in the sea. Marine pollutants which pose a serious and long-term hazard to marine life should not in general be packaged in such packagings as paper sacks or fibreboard unless additional packaging is present to prevent ready dispersal in the sea, or unless such packagings are additionally adequately protected, e.g. in unit loads or in freight containers.

3.2       It is necessary, however, to find out more about the marine trade in products containing marine pollutants and the relationship between the types of packings used in practice and the percentages of active ingredients. Many  commercial products contain very small quantities of a named pollutant, e.g. 0.1% to 10%, and for these formulations it might be possible to allow the use of packagings less robust  and water-resistant than those used for products containing a high proportion of the same marine pollutant.

4.         Marking and labelling

4.1       To facilitate identification of packages containing marine pollutants lost at sea, and particularly to enable a diver to recover packages containing marine pollutants from a sunken ship, the provisions of paragraph 7.2.2 of Section 7 of the General Introduction to the IMDG Code should be applied. This paragraph requires the correct technical name of all hazardous products and their appropriate hazard symbol to be marked in such a way as to remain legible where the package is capable of surviving three months' immersion in the sea.

4.2       No markings additional to the above are proposed for packages containing marine pollutants.

5.         Documentation

5.1       For those substances identified as marine pollutants the consignor should enter the words "Marine Pollutant" under the supplementary information column of the declaration form or indicate the same on the shipping documents.

6.         Notification

6.1       In the event any substance being identified as a marine pollutant is lost overboard by accident or is intentionally jettisoned the ship's master should immediately notify the appropriate authorities concerned.

ANNEX 2

LIST OF SUBSTANCES

¹⁾          See item 2 of Annex I

ODO - on deck only

UDR - under deck recommended

RP - recoverable position

²⁾          See item 1 of Annex I

*           Indicates the substance is liable to be bioaccumulated and of high toxicity to marine life and, therefore, poses a serious and long-term hazard to marine life.