BWMS that use Active Substances with Basic and Final Approval

The International Maritime Organization has revised the List of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances which received Basic and Final Approval.

Circular BWM.2/Circ.34/Rev.12 was published on 17 July 2023 and supersedes circular BWM.2/Circ.34/Rev.11.

The Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM Convention) provides in its regulation D-3.2 that ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances to comply with the Convention shall be approved by IMO based on a procedure developed by the Organization.

According to regulation A-1.7 of the same Convention, an active substance is a substance or organism, including a virus or a fungus, that has a general or specific action on or against harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens.

The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), at its fifty-third session (July 2005), adopted the Procedure for approval of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances (G9) by resolution MEPC.126(53).

At the same session, MEPC agreed with the establishment of a technical group (GESAMP-Ballast Water Working Group) under the auspices of GESAMP,* to evaluate such systems and advise the Committee accordingly.

MEPC 57 (April 2008) adopted resolution MEPC.169(57), which revokes resolution MEPC.126(53) and contains the revised Procedure for approval of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances (G9).

Section 8 of Procedure (G9) sets out the methodology to be followed for the two-tier approval of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances and requests IMO to record the Basic and Final Approvals and to circulate the list once a year.

Following the consideration of the relevant reports of the GESAMP-BWWG, the Committee, at its eightieth session (3 to 7 July 2023), granted one Basic Approval, two Final Approvals, and one Final Approval extension for use in freshwater to ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances.

The annexes to this circular contain relevant information on the ballast water management systems that received Basic and Final Approval from March 2006 until July 2023.

Information regarding the systems that received type approval certification can be found on the IMO website at https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/BWMTechnologies.aspx.

Member Governments are invited to bring this circular to the attention of all the parties concerned.

For more information, please see the document below (available only to subscribers):