11. BSPC Resolution part II COMS recommendations

R E S O L U T I O NP A R T IIadopted bythe 11th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC),assembled in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 30th September - 1st October 2002The participants of the Conference,Concentrating onMARITIME SAFETY AND SECURITYwith regard to Part II of the Resolution adopted by the participants of the 10th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Greifswald, in which the latter call upon the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the governments of the Baltic Sea countries to adopt a number of measures designed to prevent and control shipping accidents, to continue to fundamentally improve the safety of ships and navigation, and to co-operate internationally in this field,Taking note ofthe findings presented in the appended report by the Committee on Maritime Safety (COMS) established at the 10th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Greifswald, in particular with regard toan international hearing conducted on 13th May 2002 in Copenhagenan update of the expert opinion on maritime safety in the Baltic Sea area presented at the 10th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conferenceinformation provided by the various member states on the current status of maritime safety in the Baltic Sea area and on progress made with regard to the implementation of the Greifswald Resolutionthe current status of deliberations and planning by the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and its efforts with regard to the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration (HELCOM Extra 2001) on maritime safety and marine environmental protection [HELCOM 23/2002]the political views expressed by the European Union in its White Paper on “European Transport Policy for 2010: Time to Decide” [COM(2001) 370 final] with regard to the new dimension of maritime safety, as well as the efforts made by the EU to become a full member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO),Welcomethe resolutions adopted at the extraordinary meeting of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM EXTRA 2001) on 10th September 2001 in Copenhagen, which reflect a large part of the demands contained in the Resolution adopted at the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference on 4th September 2001 in Greifswaldthe decision taken by the Helsinki Commission on 7th March 2002 to grant the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference observer statusthe fact that high political priority continues to be given to maritime safety in the Baltic Sea area and that awareness of maritime safety has increased considerablythe fact that new conventions, directives, regulations and other provisions designed to improve maritime safety have been negotiated or concluded by the responsible international and national bodies faster than in the past – due also to the commitment of the COMS Working Groupthe introduction of AIS as of 1st July 2002 for all new ships with a gross tonnage of over 300 and the fact that the Baltic Sea is one of the first regions worldwide to introduce the Automatic Ship Identification System (AIS)the declaration of the ministerial conference “Safety and Security of Energy Supplies in the Baltic Sea Region in the Context of the European Union Enlargement“, adopted on 27th September in Ventspils, Latviathe fact that a HELCOM workshop will be held in March 2003 with the involvement of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the European Community (EC) to discuss the “Environmental effects of increased shipping density in the Baltic Sea”,The initiative of the Nordic Council of Ministers to produce an electronic map of the oil spill risks caused by the increasing oil and other transportation as well as the oil combatting preparedness in the Baltic Sea area, through combining information and data bases collected by HELCOM and the Baltic Sea states.Notethat the time required for the ratification and entry into force of international targets in the implementation of conventions and directives is still unsatisfactorythat it is necessary to adopt not only measures to prevent the Baltic Sea from being contaminated by oil and other pollutants from shipping operations but also other suitable measures to improve marine environmental protection in the Baltic Sea areaCall on the CBSS and the governments of the Baltic Sea countries tokeep up their efforts to improve maritime safety in the Baltic Sea areaespecially byimplementing the HELCOM Copenhagen Declaration as quickly as possible in the Baltic Sea statessupporting the work of the IMO and its efforts to establish a model for auditing flag statesconsidering on a priority basis ratification of the Protocol (Protocol on Seafarers’ Condition of Work) of 1996 to Convention No. 147 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), as well as Convention No. 180, for the codification and monitoring of elementary demands for minimum social standards, which – except for a few exceptions – have not yet been ratified by the Baltic Sea statesjointly before the IMO stress the importance of designating areas of the Baltic Sea as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), as a first step to implement the relevant part of the Greifswald resolutionquickly and uniformly improving the safety level of Baltic Sea ports and presenting common demands in the framework of the IMO’s diplomatic conference, which will take place in December 2002 with regard to- making it mandatory for ships to be equipped with AIS transponders earlier than planned- the performance of security risk assessments for ships, mobile platforms as well as ports- the appointment of security commissioners- the preparation of ship and port security plans- reporting violations of security regulations in forceeffectively implementing the Baltic Strategy (“Strategy for Port Reception Facilities for Ship Generated Wastes and Associated Issues” [HELCOM 17/96]), including suitable activities in the fields of enforcement, monitoring and prosecutionexamining whether a “Port and Maritime Security Act” – along the lines of current plans in the United States – should be developed and implemented for the Baltic Sea areaimplementing as quickly as possible “Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27th November 2000” on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residuesresolutely introducing any other suitable measures to improve marine environmental protection, in particular by reducing land-based emissions of pollutants and nutrientsrecommending the governments of the HELCOM contracting parties to carry out further investigations for location and characterization of dumped chemical munitions, informing HELCOM about the results of these investigations and commissioning HELCOM to update the latest information and knowledge about chemical munitions in the Baltic Sea and to present a new, written report to the contacting partners as soon as possibledeveloping regional plans within the respective national territorial waters as well as the introduction of joint regional planning strategies of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Baltic Seapromoting the efforts made by the IMO to unify international training certificates and standards for seamen and the development of standards and procedures for mutual accreditation of maritime education and training institutions and mutual recognition of Certificates of Competence / Dokuments of Evidence within the EU/EEA areaagreethat the establishment of a “working group” of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference has proven to be a suitable instrument to increase the potential for political acceptance of its demands and to improve the dialogue with the executive institutions in the Baltic Sea area and with international institutionsthat this instrument should also be used in future when suitable issues arise, andthat the Standing Committee of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference should focus its attention on maritime safety and security measures....__________________________________________________________________________Appendix: Report on current problems with regard to maritime safety on the Baltic Sea, presented by the BSPC’s Working Group “COMS – Committee on Maritime Safety” on behalf of the 10th Conference in Greifswald 2001Annex 1: Minutes of the 3rd session (International Hearing)Annex 2: Expert opinionAnnex 3: National and regional reports