United Nations Environment Programme

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1 UNITED NATIONS EP United Nations Environment Programme Distr. RESTRICTED UNEP(DEPI)/CAR IG.28/INF.9 1 July 2008 Original: ENGLISH Thirteenth Intergovernmental Meeting on the Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Programme and the Tenth Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, 9-12 September 2008 Report on the Activities on GloBallast Partnerships and the MARPOL 73/78 Convention in the Wider Caribbean Region

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3 Page 1 Report on the Activities on GloBallast Partnerships and the MARPOL 73/78 Convention in the Wider Caribbean Region GloBallast Partnerships The GEF-UNDP-IMO Global Ballast Water Management Program (GloBallast), aimed at assisting developing countries in implementing measures to minimize the adverse impacts of aquatic invasive species transferred by ships in ballast water, has begun a new second phase, following the initial successful execution of the five-year US$10.2 million project by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The first phase of the GloBallast program ran from 1 March 2000 to 31 December It involved a four-person Program Coordination Unit, based at IMO in London, and six initial demonstration sites, located in Brazil, China, India, Iran, South Africa and Ukraine. The preparatory phase of the new project GloBallast Partnerships (GBP) was initiated on 1 st of April 2005 with funding of approximately US$700,000 from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This preparatory project was executed by IMO over a period of 18 months and was in order to provide the groundwork for the full-scale GBP project (full title: Building Partnerships to Assist Developing Countries to Reduce the Transfer of Harmful Aquatic Organisms in Ships' Ballast Water). GBP became operational in 2007 and has a duration of five years. The main objective is to assist particularly vulnerable countries and/or regions to enact legal and policy reforms to meet the objectives of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, adopted by IMO in February GBP has a budget of US$23 million, of which, US$13 million will come from in-kind contributions from the participating countries and other interested partners. The remainder of the funding will be in the form of a GEF grant to support incremental costs. The United Nations Development Program is acting as implementing agency for GEF. Within the priority regions, a series of actions at the national level will be carried out based on two tracks: a) The fast track involves Lead Partner Countries (LPCs), which have committed themselves to developing national ballast water management strategies and policy reforms. In order to be an LPC, each country had to provide a letter of endorsement and commitment to the project, and to commit co-financing support. All countries within the priority regions were invited to express their interest in being an LPC. Once designated, each of the LPCs appointed a National Focal Point and National Project Coordinator. Each of the LPCs will play a catalytic role in their regions. While the LPCs will pioneer legal, policy and institutional developments at the national level, the lessons learned and experiences gained will be shared with other Partner Countries (PC) in each of the priority regions. The LPCs will coordinate and host specific training and regional harmonization activities and invite the other countries in the region to participate in these activities, thus extending the benefits to all the other countries in the region.

4 Page 2 b) The partner track involves countries in each priority region who are invited to participate in the regional task force and in regional training and workshop activities. Partner countries are required to officially endorse the project. Partner arrangements can and will be established both with GEF and non-gef eligible countries, on the condition that only GEF-eligible countries are able to benefit from GEF funding. The non-gef eligible countries in each region will be invited to participate in workshops and will be urged to develop strategies and policy reforms, but these countries are expected to provide all of their own financing. The table below identifies those GEF-eligible countries in the Caribbean Region that have officially endorsed the project and are considered GloBallast Partner Countries. It is expected that during the course of the project, all of the countries in each region will become GloBallast partners. Region Current LPCs Current Partners (GEF-eligible & endorsed GBP): Caribbean Venezuela, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Costa Rica, Haiti, Cuba, Dominica, Guatemala, Mexico, Other GEF eligible Barbados, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname Non-GEF eligible USA, UK, France, Dutch Kingdom Within the framework of the five-year GEF project ( ) of GBP, RAC/REMPEITC- Carib organized and collaborated in the preparation and development of the Project Document for GBP, in consultation with the concerned countries. The overall aim of GBP is to assist developing countries to enact, through effective partnerships, the necessary national level legal, policy and institutional reforms to prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the risk arising from the transfer of invasive aquatic species and pathogens in ships ballast water and sediments, and to develop sustainable mechanisms for the control and management of ballast water and sediments. An introductory ballast water management course was recently held in Jamaica, one of the LPCs, on February The seminar was organized by RAC/REMPEITC-Carib, the GloBallast Partnership Project Coordination Unit at IMO, and host country Jamaica. The course was an introductory one geared towards personnel having different skills, knowledge and experience in ballast water related issues. One of its objectives was to provide a common set of knowledge and skills to all participants to enable them to take appropriate action in their various capacities, with a view towards promoting uniform implementation of the Ballast Water Management Convention. In offering the introductory course in Ballast Water Management, regional capacity building was also foremost among the objectives. The participating countries included Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Curacao, Cuba, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Jamaica. As a side activity, the first National Task Force meeting of Jamaica was also held. Colombia, a LPC in the Pacific Region and a country that also borders the Caribbean Region, organized their first National Task Force meeting and seminar in July This meeting included presentations by experts from the GloBallast Partnership Project Coordination Unit at IMO, the Permanent Commission for the South East Pacific (CPPS), RAC/REMPEITC-Carib

5 Page 3 and other government organizations on the different aspects of the issue and the current initiatives in Colombia. All the participants in the meeting showed great interest on the issue of ballast water management and volunteered continued support and assistance in addressing the issue. As a result, they all accepted, according to their field of expertise, nominations in three various working groups within the National Task Force. The working groups will meet and work according to the Plan of Activities being developed by their national maritime authority. National Task Force meetings in the remaining LPCs are planned in In addition, a regional Globallast meeting is planned in 2008; however, funds are still to be identified for this activity. MARPOL 73/78 In 2007, the Regional Activity Center / Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Center (RAC/REMPEITC-Carib), together with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) through its Caribbean Environment Program, commenced an outreach program to facilitate the implementation of the Special Area provisions of MARPOL Annex V (Garbage) within the Wider Caribbean Region. Special Areas are particular bodies of water which, because of their oceanographic characteristics and ecological significance, require protective measures more strict than other areas of the ocean. Within Special Areas that are in effect internationally, the only authorized garbage discharge from vessels is food waste except under emergency circumstances. Although the Wider Caribbean Region is designated as a Special Area under Regulation 5 (1) (h) of MARPOL Annex V, the Special Area status has not yet taken effect in terms of Regulation 5 (4) (b) of MARPOL Annex V. In accordance with Regulation 5 (4) (b) of MARPOL Annex V, the Government of each Party to the Convention, the coastline of which borders the Special Area in question, shall notify IMO that adequate reception facilities are provided in all its ports within the Special Area. Upon receipt of the notifications, IMO, through an MEPC Resolution, will establish a date from which the Special Area requirements shall take effect. There are 25 Contracting Parties to MARPOL Annex V that are located in the Wider Caribbean Region: Antigua & Barbuda; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Columbia; Cuba; Dominica; Dominican Republic; France; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Jamaica; Mexico; Netherlands; Nicaragua; Panama; Saint Kitts & Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent & Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad & Tobago; United Kingdom; United States; and Venezuela. The only three countries that are not a signatory to MARPOL Annex V are Costa Rica; Grenada; and Haiti. Taking into concern that the Wider Caribbean became a Special Area under MARPOL 73/78 Annex V, States and Territories were encouraged to implement and enforce these regulations. In the early 1990 s, the World Bank, IMO and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) undertook initiatives to address ship-generated waste. While these initiatives and those by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Ship-Generated Waste Management and Solid Waste Management Project were successful in addressing the Solid Waste Management issues on many

6 Page 4 islands, the requirements to put the Special Area provision of MARPOL V into effect for the Caribbean Sea still needed to be achieved. In March 2007, RAC/REMPEITC, IMO, and UNEP s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit held a regional workshop on the ratification and implementation of MARPOL 73/78 and on the regional management of marine litter in Aruba. While the participants generally supported the proposed strategy of RAC/REMPEITC for implementing the requirements of the MARPOL Annex V provisions for reporting the status of port waste reception facilities, there was some difficulty in developing a consensus or agreement from the participants that reporting the status of facilities would be accomplished. There was a general feeling that the reporting of the status of waste reception facilities could possibly bring an increased number of ships to the reporting port, and this fear dissuaded countries from reporting the status of the reception facilities in their countries. There was sufficient evidence provided that waste reception facilities were widely available in the Wider Caribbean Region; however, a process needed to be promoted so that these facilities and their status could be adequately reported to IMO. In an attempt to further increase the region s understanding of the MARPOL 73/78 Convention and the Land-based Sources of Pollution (LBS) Protocol of the Cartagena Convention, RAC/REMPEITC, IMO, and UNEP s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit held a series seminars in five Caribbean countries. These seminars took place on board the passenger ship M/V FREEWINDS in November 2007 during its port visits to Saint Lucia, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Dominica. Its specific purpose was to offer decision making authorities and other stakeholders information regarding the steps needed to implement the Special Area designation of the Wider Caribbean Region under MARPOL Annex V and to obtain a status of the various countries waste reception facilities. From these seminars, it was determined that a majority of these countries had adequate waste reception facilities in place; however, their status was not being reported to IMO. Further information was then provided on the process countries enter their information on waste reception facilities into IMO s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS). With support from IMO and UNEP s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit, RAC/REMPEITC plans to continue raising awareness and promoting advocacy in the region on the importance of the MARPOL 73/78 Convention, specifically the implementation of the Special Area provisions of MARPOL Annex V. The next seminar is planned in October 22-23, 2008 in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, which all countries in the Wider Caribbean will be invited.