RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment
Protection Committee conferred upon it by the international conventions
for the prevention and control of marine pollution,
RECALLING ALSO that the International Conference on Ballast
Water Management for Ships held in February 2004 adopted the International
Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water
and Sediments, 2004 (the Ballast Water Management
Convention) together with four Conference resolutions,
NOTING that Regulation A-2 of
the Ballast Water Management Convention requires that discharge of
ballast water shall only be conducted through Ballast Water Management
in accordance with the provisions of the Annex to the Convention,
NOTING FURTHER that regulation
B-4.2 of the Convention stipulates that in sea areas where
the distance from the nearest land or the depth does not meet the
parameters described in Regulation B-4.1,
the port State may designate areas, in consultation with adjacent
or other States, as appropriate, where a ship may conduct ballast
water exchange and MEPC 52 identified the need for additional guidance
on the designation of areas for ballast water exchange,
NOTING ALSO that resolution 1 adopted by the International
Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships invited the Organization
to develop the Guidelines for uniform application of the Convention
as a matter of urgency,
HAVING CONSIDERED, at its fifty-fifth session, the draft
Guidelines on designation of areas for ballast water exchange (G14)
developed by the Ballast Water Working Group, and the recommendation
made by the Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases at its tenth session,
1. ADOPTS the Guidelines on designation of areas
for ballast water exchange (G14) as set out in the Annex to this resolution;
2. INVITES Governments to apply the Guidelines
as soon as possible, or when the Convention becomes applicable to
them; and
3. AGREES to keep the Guidelines under review.