The Marine Environment Protection Committee

  1. In 1998 MEPC/Circular.342 requested Member Governments to complete and return a questionnaire on ballast water management, so as to provide Country Profiles on existing ballast water management arrangements and requirements in IMO Member States.

  2. This initiative was undertaken in response to regular, frequent and ongoing requests received by the Secretariat from IMO Members and other parties for information on this issue. Such requests are increasing and there have been many developments since 1998. As a follow-up to MEPC/Circular.342, it is now timely to update this information with another questionnaire.

  3. The updated Country Profiles will be placed as an information service on the GloBallast web site (http://globallast.imo.org), as a simple, user-friendly map-based point and click system.

  4. This will allow governments, the shipping industry and other stakeholders to rapidly obtain information on existing ballast water management requirements around the world, and will prove invaluable in assisting all parties to make progress in addressing the ballast water issue.

  5. Attached is a Country Profile Template, both in hard copy and on diskette.

  6. Your Administration is kindly requested to complete the questionnaire. It should be completed in as much detail as possible, so as to maximize the usefulness of the Country Profile information service.

  7. Please forward completed questionnaires, either in hard copy or via email, to the address below, preferably by 1 October 2002, so as to allow the results to be made available at MEPC 48.