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 international conventions for the prevention and control of
marine pollution from ships,
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
Convention) together with four Conference resolutions,
NOTING that regulation A-2 of the 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 ALSO that regulation A-4 of the Convention stipulates that a Party
or Parties, in waters under their jurisdiction, may grant exemptions to any
requirements to apply regulation B-3 or C-1, in addition to those exemptions
contained elsewhere in this Convention, but only when they are, inter alia, granted
based on the guidelines on risk assessment developed by the Organization,
NOTING FURTHER resolution MEPC.162(56) by which it adopted Guidelines for risk
assessment under regulation A-4 of the BWM Convention (G7),
RECALLING that, at its seventieth session, it endorsed the view of the
Ballast Water Review Group that the same risk area (SRA) concept was in line with
the Guidelines (G7); that no further guidance on the matter was necessary; and that
Administrations may grant exemptions in accordance with regulation A-4 of the
Convention based on the SRA concept, subject to consultation and agreement between
States that may be affected by such exemptions,
RECALLING ALSO that in this regard, at its seventieth session, it invited
proposals for minor amendments to the Guidelines (G7), in order to better clarify
the relationship between the Guidelines and the SRA concept, to its seventy-first
session,
HAVING CONSIDERED, at its seventy-first session, draft amendments to the
Guidelines (G7) to introduce the SRA concept,
1 ADOPTS the 2017 Guidelines for risk assessment under regulation A-4
of the BWM Convention (G7) (the 2017 Guidelines (G7)), as set out in the
annex to this resolution;
2 INVITES Governments to apply the 2017 Guidelines (G7) as soon as
possible, or when the Convention becomes applicable to them;
3 AGREES to keep the 2017 Guidelines (G7) under review;
4 SUPERSEDES the Guidelines for risk assessment under regulation A-4
of the BWM Convention (G7) adopted by resolution MEPC.162(56).