International Maritime Organization - Speech or Presentation Example

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to stand before with the aim of sharing my ideas with you as a candi for the position of IMO president. But before we proceed, we must remember what the IMO is primarily for. The International Maritime Organisation is an agency of the United Nations that has been charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the safety, security and pollution of international waters are kept under control. The body was established in the year 1948 but officially began their tasks in 1959. As a presidential candidate for such an agency, one must be in a position to work hand in hand with all the constituent members of the IMO. This is no easy task because it encompasses the following groups; sixty five nongovernmental organisations, forty two international governmental organisations, one hundred and sixty member states and a secretariat where the non governmental bodies here include; INTERCARGO, ILAMA, ICS and Interferry. (Kihu, 2008) Please allow me to inform you about some of the things that I would bring to the IMO if given the chance. In others words, this will be my mission for the IMO. First, the IMO under my leadership will contribute towards safer maritime environments. This is especially necessary after the September eleventh attacks in the US. At no greater time is it more imperative to safeguard the well being of law abiding citizens throughout the world. Secondly, my leadership will restore vigilance in marine environmental safety. This comes against the background of concern about water and air pollution by certain vessels and greater concern over the nature of garbage disposal by these vessels. The third issue that my manifesto will dwell on is improvement of all maritime based markets. This issue is a pressing one because of the fact that maritime employees are in need of greater support. Additionally, there is a need to promote greater competition in maritime environments and thus heighten the effects that the latter issue will have upon the lives of members of society. My vision for the IMO is to see greater coordination between the member states of this great institution, supranational levels and international levels. The former level will be represented by the European Union, NAFTA and such groups. The latter level will represented by the IMO. I fully understand the fact that it will be difficult to try and coordinate all these levels in order to come up with effective shipping polices, but I believe with the experience and understanding I posses about this organisation, all this can be achieved. In order to understand the challenges that lay ahead of us, it is essential to look at some of the enormous changes that the maritime industry has undergone and how these relate to IMO. IMO was initially concerned with prevention of marine pollution, safety regulations and development of international legislations. These activities went on and by the nineteen seventies; all the latter objectives had not been achieved. This led to the intense concentration of the agency's work on legislation as a special issue. So far, as a result of the legislation developed by IMO, almost ninety eighty percent of international shipping merchants adhere to their expected tonnage. (ANAVE, 2007) Because of rapid ship building in the eighties, tonnage increased and some of the ships were in danger of exceeding their tonnage. This was where tonnage concerns began arising. This formed the need for special shipping policy to tackle that challenge in shipping. In the nineteen nineties, the issue of safety and pollution became paramount to IMO; the reason behind this was a spill that had occurred in eighty nine and another incident in the late nineties in Valdez and France respectively. As a consequence of these issues, the IMO decided to phase out single hull tankers. A number of protocol issues have been set up by IMO to wash oil tanks and this has proved effective at minimising pollution. In this millennium however, the IMO has shifted towards more people matters rather than technical issues. This will be my major approach or strategy in the coming five years if elected. Greater emphasis will be given to the safety and technological maters that involve shipping entities. The plan will be an integration of current technological and safety concerns. As president of the IMO, shipping policy for the IMO will entail a series of issues that are designed to curb some of the inefficiencies in the past and also to promote further growth in the future. Between the years 2009 and 2013, The IMO will engage in intense consultation with other non governmental bodies that form part of its membership. This is due to the realisation that there are enormous skills and knowledge that can only be obtained through these experts. Additionally, these bodies represent a huge chunk of the population that may be affected by the activities of IMO. (Roe, 2008) As a president of IMO in the coming five years, it will be essential to coordinate well with some of the member groups within the agency. In the past, these groups have been dwelling on their respective duties and responsibilities. However, in order to achieve the goals and objectives of IMO, a presidential candidate ought to look for ways in which they can bring everything together. For instance the MSC is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that shipping occurs safely. The latter group can coordinate with the LEG which is responsible for all the legal issues. Through heightened interagency corporation, all the member groups can adopt a long term perspective for the IMO and this will enhance its ability to meet its objectives. It is also essential to note that the structure of IMO itself may not permit this kind of flexibility. Consequently, commitment from the top will be essential in ensuring that this kind of approach works. Emphasis should been on integrating both the horizontal and vertical structures within the organisation. (IMO, 2008) In the past, IMO regulations and policies have been relatively workable. It will be my duty to ensure that this continues into the future. Consequently, the culture of unanimous decision making by the body will go on. However, there is a need to ensure that the decisions made by these member groups will be adhered to by each ship. In the past, this has been the case, however, with time; more can be done to ensure that every single ship implements the regulations. Currently, the IMO has been working on a series of issues. For instance, they have been focusing on air emissions. As president of the body, its sulphur based emissions will be top on the agenda and this will necessitate cooperation with SECA. Additionally, the issue of ballast water management will be dealt with more intensely. On top of these, recycling of ships will form an important part of the policy agenda in the next five years. One of the greatest sources of natural resource depletion is ship construction. If raw materials required for this process are not recycled, then the maritime environment could be one of the most demanding industries in terms of material consumption. In this current regime, IMO has been looking at how coating standards can be enhanced. This will form an important agenda aspect in shipping policy under my regime. Additionally, bulk safety issues need to be enhanced through adequate coordination with concerned parties. (European Federation for Transport and Environment, 2008) Despite the latter collaboration, there are still many areas that need intense work in subsequent years. For instance, a number of ships are responsible for leaving cargo residues in waters. This has caused intense pollution. If there is greater emphasis on the marpol annex five agenda, then chances are that more ships will be obliged to wash water that has been contaminated by their residues. The latter issue will form an important part of the policy agenda under my leadership. It should also be noted that most coastal states have not been included in the international policy agenda yet they are crucial in meeting the pollution prevention standards of IMO. Part of the next five years will be dedicated towards including these coastal states in the agenda formulation process. My regime will focus greatly on dealing with some of the challenges that have been brought about by the European Union and also by NAFTA as supranational bodies. Most of us are aware of the fact that the European Union's mandate and the IMO's shipping policies have been in contradiction with one another. Recently, The European Unions' approach to tonnage taxation has not been parallel to those of the IMO. Under my leadership, the IMO will work out solutions to merge the taxation interests of the EU together with those of other parties. IMO polices concerning double hull tankers have been very strict. This came against the background of recent maritime events that have been mentioned earlier in IMO's history. However, NAFTA's policies concerning the same have not been in line with IMO interests and interests of the rest of the world. It will therefore be very necessary to work hand in hand with NAFTA in order to iron out these discrepancies. It should also be noted that efficient coordination is needed when it comes to handling international manning. This is because this organisation and NAFTA have not been meeting eye to eye on the subject. Through my leadership, there will be a lot of dialogue and discussion with the latter body in order to restore some coherence in the matter. (UN, 2007) Because of forces of globalisation, maritime issues have taken on increasingly international agendas. Supranational bodies such as NAFTA and the EU or international bodies such as the IMO are in constant conflict with highly aggressive countries. Taking the example of the United States; Following the September eleventh attacks against this nation, more concerns have been directed towards security issues. In fact as a member state, the US has been particularly interested in imposing greater security measures within the IMO. However, other countries may not share such equal enthusiasm and this has caused a rift in the degree of harmonisation within the IMO. As a leader of the institution, it will be my priority to ensure that the complex relationships associated with multilevel governance can be merged with the overall jurisdiction of member countries such as the United States and the UK. These national interests are just as important as the international jurisdictions because they are the foundation for meeting certain industry specific needs. This coming five years will see a radical approach to multi level governance. Because of greater international sourcing, many more countries participate in international markets. For instance, coffee is transported from South America and the West Indies, Oil is emanating from West Africa and Alaska and coal is from Poland, USA and Australia. Because of these respective interdependencies, it is necessary for greater globalisation of shipping policies. In line with this fact is speedier response to safety issues that arise out of greater inter-linkage between different countries. The IMO needs to place its foot forward here; this will be the case in the coming era if l get elected. The maritime environment has adversely changed over the past few years thanks to greater physical and capital mobility. Officers and crew members are constantly operating in different nation states. Most of them do not even deal with domestic issues anymore. Consequently, international policy makers such as IMO need to step up their initiatives. Taking the example of the European Union; the latter region has implemented policy at supranational level through the imposition of tonnage tax through IMO efforts. It has managed to include some national preferences while at the same time including capital and physical mobility of items. (UN, 2007) Given the latter facts, there is a need to change how national supranational and international bodies such as the IMO can work together. In the coming five years, greater emphasis will be given to the role that national governments play by provision of incentives that can improve safety. Additionally, supranational authorities will also be involved in the process of minimising some uncompetitive practices by certain ship owners. Lastly, IMO will also work hand in hand with other international bodies to ensure safety and efficient labour laws. With these few words, I hope that I can count on your votes in this coming election. Thank you. References ANAVE (2007): Developing Shipping policy and the IMO, retrieved from http://www.anave.es/ Accessed on 18th Nov Roe, M. (2008): Shipping policy and multilevel governance, Palgrave publishers IMO (2008): Maritime Policy and Management, retrieved from http://www.imo.org/ accessed on 18th Nov Kihu, M. (2008): UN sanctions action against pirates, Global Policy Forum Report, 1st July, no. 107 UN (2007): The UN Security Council, retrieved from http://www.globalpolicy.org accessed on 18th Nov European Federation for Transport and Environment (2008): IMO'S decade on shipping emissions; retrieved from http://www.transportenvironment.org/ accessed on 18th Nov Read More