Provisional agenda for the IMO PPR 11

The International Maritime Organization has released the provisional agenda for the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response, 11th session.

PPR 11 will be held at IMO Headquarters, 4 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7SR, from Monday, 19 to Friday, 23 February 2024.

The session commences at 9.30 a.m. (UTC) on Monday, 19 February 2024.

Opening of the session.

1 Adoption of the agenda.

2 Decisions of other IMO bodies.

3 Safety and pollution hazards of chemicals and preparation of consequential amendments to the IBC Code.

4 Amendments to MARPOL Annex II in order to improve the effectiveness of cargo tank stripping, tank washing operations and prewash procedures for products with a high melting point and/or high viscosity.

5 Development of guidance on matters relating to in-water cleaning.

6 Reduction of the impact on the Arctic of Black Carbon emissions from international shipping.

7 Evaluation and harmonization of rules and guidance on the discharge of discharge water from EGCS into the aquatic environment, including conditions and areas.

8 Development of amendments to MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical Code on the use of multiple engine operational profiles for a marine diesel engine including clarifying engine test cycles.

9 Development of a guide compiling best practices to develop local-level marine spill contingency plans to aid States, particularly local governments and key institutions, in implementing the OPRC Convention and OPRC-HNS Protocol.

10 Development of measures to reduce risks of use and carriage of heavy fuel oil as fuel by ships in Arctic waters.

11 Review of the IBTS Guidelines and amendments to the IOPP Certificate and Oil Record Book.

12 Revision of MARPOL Annex IV and associated guidelines.

13 Follow-up work emanating from the Action Plan to address marine plastic litter from ships.

14 Unified interpretation of provisions of IMO environment-related conventions.

15 Biennial agenda and provisional agenda for PPR 12.

16 Election of Chair and Vice-Chair for 2025.

17 Any other business.

18 Report to the Marine Environment Protection Committee.

Notes:

1 In accordance with the document on Organization and method of work of the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment Protection Committee and their subsidiary bodies (MSC-MEPC.1/Circ.5/Rev.5):

.1 documents should be received by the Secretariat as follows:

.1 documents (including information documents submitted in hard copy only) containing more than six pages of text* (bulky documents), by Friday, 17 November 2023 (13-week deadline);
.2 non-bulky documents including information documents (six pages or fewer) and bulky information documents submitted in electronic format, by Friday, 15 December 2023 (nine-week deadline); and
.3 documents commenting on those referred to in sub-paragraphs .1 and .2 above, as well as those commenting on documents forwarded to PPR 11 by the Committees, containing four pages or fewer, by Friday, 29 December 2023 (seven-week deadline). These documents should start with a paragraph clearly indicating the document on which comments are made and stating that the document is submitted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 6.12.5 of the Committees' Method of Work;

*Documents other than information documents and reports from sub-committees, working, drafting, correspondence and other working groups and the Secretariat, and which contain more than 20 pages, in line with paragraph 6.11 of the annex to MSC-MEPC.1/Circ.5/Rev.5, will not be translated in their entirety. Such documents should include, for translation purposes, a summary not longer than four pages, with the technical content submitted as an annex in the language needed by working groups (i.e. English).

As a general rule, documents, other than information documents and reports of committees and subsidiary bodies, working, drafting, correspondence and other reporting groups and the Secretariat, should not contain more than 50 pages. In the case of documents containing more than 50 pages, the provisions of paragraph 6.12.1 of the annex to MSC-MEPC.1/Circ.5/Rev.5 are to be applied.

.2 for reasons of economy, documents should be submitted in single spacing, and be as concise as possible, and:

.1 all documents should include a brief summary prepared in accordance with section 6 of the Committees' Method of Work;
.2 substantive documents should conclude with a summary of the action that the Sub-Committee is invited to take; and
.3 information documents should conclude with a summary of the information contained therein;

.3 the following word-processing format should be observed in order to standardize the presentation of documents:

font: Arial;
font size: 11;
justification: full;
margins: 2 cm top, 2.5 cm bottom, left and right.

A template is available on the IMODOCS website for use in the preparation of documents.

To facilitate processing, documents should be submitted via the new Meeting Document Submission Portal on IMODOCS (Submission Portal), as set out in Circular Letter No.4662. Should any problems be encountered that prevent submission of a document via the Submission Portal, submitters should contact the Secretariat at imodocs@imo.org and copy ppr@imo.org without delay.

2 The Committees' Method of Work, inter alia, provides that the Secretariat should strictly apply the rules concerning the submission of documents and not accept late submissions from Member States or international organizations.

3 In order to improve access to information and increase transparency, submitters of meeting documents are invited to give their consent for their documents to be released to the public prior to the meeting by checking the "opt-in box" at the top right corner of the new document template provided on IMODOCS (pre-session public release). In the absence of explicit consent, submissions will not be released to the public prior to the meeting.