International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) chairman Esben Poulsson has warned that IMO’s role as the global regulatory body must be protected.
Speaking at the ICS annual conference in London on Thursday, he said the organisation risks being sidelined through unilateral action by member states.
He highlighted the increasing tendency of EU countries’ positions to be co-ordinated by the EU itself.
And he provided the example of the current discussion at IMO about the establishment of a global CO2 data collection system.
The EU is seeking to align this with a regional regime for shipping which it has already adopted through local legislation.
Poulsson also said nations such as the US are taking “similarly impractical, highly political stances” on issues such as the implementation of the IMO Ballast Water Convention, by refusing to accept decisions that have been taken at IMO by other member states.
He said: “Unless we are very careful, IMO could eventually be reduced to merely rubber-stamping decisions which in reality will have been taken elsewhere, whether in Europe, the United States or by the emerging powers in Asia.”
The chairman also urged the industry to raise the bar on environmental matters.
“We have to accept that society at large now expects far more from us, and even the smallest deficiencies will no longer be tolerated,” he said.
