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Management of the ocean and its resources is a huge task. New Zealand is currently developing a comprehensive National Oceans Policy which aims to pull together the several strands of the issue, from utilisation of fisheries to maritime transport to the protection of the marine environment.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a specialised agency of the United Nations, was established in 1948 following an international conference in Geneva. The original name was the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization, or IMCO, but the name was changed in 1982 to IMO.
The IMO Convention entered into force in 1958 and the new Organisation met for the first time the following year.
The Organisation’s main objective is to facilitate cooperation among governments on technical matters affecting international shipping, in order to achieve the highest practicable standards of maritime safety and efficiency in navigation. The IMO has a special responsibility for safety of life at sea, and for the protection of the marine environment through prevention of pollution of the sea caused by ships and other craft. The Organization is also empowered to deal with administrative and legal matters related to these purposes.
The most important convention regulating and preventing marine pollution by ships is the IMO International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. It covers accidental and operational oil pollution as well as pollution by chemicals, goods in packaged form, sewage, garbage and air pollution.
Invasive aquatic species can cause severe environmental, economic and public health impacts. The problem of invasive species is largely due to the expanded trade and traffic volume over the last few decades and as volumes of seaborne trade continue to increase, the problem may not yet have reached its peak.
In response to increasing threats posed by invasive marine species, the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in its Agenda 21 called on the IMO and other international bodies to take action to address the transfer of organisms by ships.
The member countries of IMO have developed voluntary guidelines for the control and management of ships’ ballast water, to minimise the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens. The IMO Assembly adopted these guidelines in 1997. However, the guidelines are limited in their ability to effectively address the problem so IMO member countries agreed to develop a mandatory international legal regime to regulate and control ballast water.
In July 2003 the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee finalised a draft of the proposed International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship's Ballast Water and Sediments, and agreed to hold a diplomatic conference from 9 to 13 February 2004 to adopt the convention.
New Zealand participates in IMO meetings. Its main current interests are the Ballast Water Convention and the EU proposal to the IMO to accelerate the recently agreed phase out schedule for single hull tankers.
