[Senate Executive Report 105-18]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress                                               Exec. Rpt.
                                 SENATE

 2d Session                                                      105-18
_______________________________________________________________________


 
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION

                                _______
                                

                 June 19, 1998.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


          Mr. Helms, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,

                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                   [To accompany Treaty Doc. 104-36]

    The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred 
Amendments to the Convention on the International Maritime 
Organization, adopted on November 7, 1991, and November 4, 
1993, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
with one declaration and one proviso, and recommends that the 
Senate give its advice and consent to the ratification thereof 
as set forth in this report and the accompanying resolution of 
ratification.

                               I. Purpose

    The Amendments are intended to make permanent the 
Facilitation Committee of the International Maritime 
Organization, and expand the size of the Council of the 
Organization.

                             II. Background

    In 1948, twenty nations, including the United States, 
negotiated a convention to establish the Intergovernmental 
Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO). The United States 
ratified the Convention in 1950, and IMCO came into being on 
March 17, 1958, after ratification or accession by the 
requisite 21 states (including 7 that each had a total tonnage 
of at least one million gross tons of shipping). Article 45 of 
the Convention contemplated that the organization would become 
a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, and an agreement to 
that effect was formalized by the UN General Assembly in 1948 
and by the first IMCO Conference in 1959. In 1982, the 
organization changed its name to the International Maritime 
Organization (IMO).
    The Convention set forth a number of broad purposes for the 
IMO:

   to facilitate cooperation among participating 
        governments in regulating shipping engaged in 
        international trade;
   to encourage the adoption of high standards in 
        matters relating to maritime safety and efficiency of 
        navigation;
   to encourage the removal of discriminatory 
        restrictions affecting international shipping; and
   to consider any other matter referred to it by any 
        organ or Specialized Agency of the UN.

The Convention provided that the IMO would be a consultative 
and advisory organization and would pursue its goals by means 
of making recommendations, drafting conventions, facilitating 
consultations, providing technical assistance, and performing 
such other functions as may be placed upon it by other 
international agreements. The Convention also provided that the 
IMO, upon the request of one of its Members, could attempt to 
resolve disputes concerning unfair restrictive shipping 
practices.
    The policy-making body of the IMO is the Assembly, which 
consists of all Member states. The Assembly meets biennially 
and approves the organization's budget and work program, elects 
the Council, and makes recommendations to the Member states on 
matters within the IMO's scope. The Council, in turn, acts for 
the IMO between Assembly sessions; it originally consisted of 
16 Member states with major interests in international shipping 
and international seaborne trade. Finally, as originally 
adopted, the Convention established a Maritime Safety Committee 
as a standing committee of the IMO with a membership of 14 
States.
    A number of amendments to the IMO Convention have been 
adopted since the organization came into being, many of them 
relating to the size of its governing bodies and to 
institutionalizing its functions. In 1967 the size of the 
Council was increased from 16 to 18 states and a criterion was 
added that the Council be representative of all major 
geographic areas of the world. In 1968 the membership of the 
Maritime Safety Committee was increased from 14 to 16 states 
and a similar criterion regarding geographic representation was 
added. In 1978 the Council was again expanded, from 18 to 24 
states, and the membership of the Maritime Safety Committee was 
increased to include all of the Member states. In 1982 several 
broader amendments entered into force:

   the name of the organization was changed to the 
        International Maritime Organization;
   its purposes were expanded to include the prevention 
        and control of marine pollution from ships and legal 
        matters relating to all of its purposes;
   its functions were broadened to include the 
        performance of duties assigned to it by other 
        international instruments relating to maritime matters; 
        and
   two additional standing committees were created--a 
        Legal Committee and a Marine Environment Protection 
        Committee, each consisting of all of the Members of the 
        IMO.

Finally, in 1984 the IMO Convention was amended to delete the 
provision that limited the IMO to an advisory and consultative 
role (Article 2); to increase the size of the Council from 24 
states to 32; to create a Technical Cooperation Committee as a 
standing committee; and to expand the IMO's role as the 
Specialized Agency of the UN for shipping to include the effect 
of shipping on the marine environment. The Technical 
Cooperation Committee consists of all of the Members of the IMO 
and is responsible for carrying out technical cooperation 
projects funded by other agencies of the UN and such other 
matters as are entrusted to it by the Assembly or Council or 
under other international agreements.
    The IMO now has 155 Member States. Over the course of its 
existence it has recommended and seen the entry into force of 
more than 40 conventions relating to such matters as safety of 
life at sea, marine pollution, and liability for damages; and 
it has initiated numerous measures concerning the training and 
certification of crews, global search and rescue systems, and 
maritime administration. The United States contributes $1 
million a year to the IMO, which is less than five percent of 
its budget, and is represented on the Council by the Coast 
Guard.

                              III. Summary

    The proposed treaty amends the IMO Convention in two areas. 
First, the amendments would increase the size of the Council, 
this time from 32 Members to 40. This expanded membership 
would, as has long been the case, be apportioned among the 
states with the largest interest in providing international 
shipping services (10 states), those with the largest interest 
in international seaborne trade (10 states), and others with a 
special interest in maritime transport or navigation whose 
election will ensure the representation of all of the major 
geographic areas of the world (20 states). The United States is 
currently a member of the Council.
    Secondly, the proposed amendments would institutionalize 
the Facilitation Committee (an ad hoc committee until now) by 
making it one of the five standing committees of the IMO. Like 
the other standing committees, the Facilitation Committee would 
be comprised of all of the Members of the IMO. Within the 
framework of the purposes and functions of the IMO, it would 
have responsibility for all matters concerning the facilitation 
of international maritime traffic and would submit its reports 
and recommendations to the Council. The President's transmittal 
letter on the amendments describes the Committee's functions as 
streamlining ``the procedures for the arrival, stay and 
departure of ships, cargo and persons in international ports.''

                  IV. Entry Into Force and Termination

                          a. entry into force

    The proposed amendments would enter into force one year 
after 103 members of the 155 Party membership have deposited 
their instruments of ratification of the amendments.

                             b. termination

    The proposed amendments could be terminated through 
termination of membership in the underlying Convention.

                          V. Committee Action

    The Committee on Foreign Relations held a public hearing on 
the proposed treaty on Wednesday, May 13, 1998. The hearing was 
chaired by Senator Hagel. The Committee considered the proposed 
treaty on Tuesday, May 19, 1998, and ordered the proposed 
treaty favorably reported by voice vote, with the 
recommendation that the Senate give its advice and consent to 
the ratification of the proposed treaty subject to one 
declaration and one proviso.

                         VI. Committee Comments

    The Committee on Foreign Relations recommends favorably the 
proposed treaty. On balance, the Committee believes that the 
proposed treaty is in the interest of the United States and 
urges the Senate to act promptly to give its advice and consent 
to ratification. Consideration of the Amendments was 
noncontroversial.
    One issue that did arise during consideration was whether 
an increase in the size of the IMO's Executive Body, the 
Council, would hinder its operation. The State Department 
asserted that ``this relatively modest increase in size based 
as it is on the stake that countries have in international 
maritime commerce is something that reflects our interest and 
would contribute to the effectiveness of the organization.'' 
The Committee defers to the State Department in this analysis, 
but would caution against any additional amendments to increase 
the Council's size. The Committee is concerned that additional 
membership could make the Council unwieldy and ineffective.

                  VII. Explanation of Proposed Treaty

    For a detailed article-by-article analysis of the proposed 
treaty, see the letter of submittal from the Secretary of 
State, which is set forth at pages v-vii of Treaty Doc. 104-36.

              VIII. Text of the Resolution of Ratification

    Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
therein), That the Senate advise and consent to the 
ratification of the Amendments to the Convention on the 
International Maritime Organization, adopted on November 7, 
1991, and November 4, 1993 (Treaty Doc. 104-36), subject to the 
declaration of subsection (a), and the proviso of subsection 
(b).

    (a) DECLARATION.--The advice and consent of the Senate is 
subject to the following declaration:

        TREATY INTERPRETATION.--The Senate affirms the 
        applicability to all treaties of the constitutionally 
        based principles of treaty interpretation set forth in 
        Condition (1) of the resolution of ratification of the 
        INF Treaty, approved by the Senate on May 27, 1988, and 
        Condition (8) of the resolution of ratification of the 
        Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the Treaty 
        on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, approved by the 
        Senate on May 14, 1997.

    (b) PROVISO.--The resolution of ratification is subject to 
the following proviso, which shall be binding on the President:

        SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION.--Nothing in the Treaty 
        requires or authorizes legislation or other action by 
        the United States of America that is prohibited by the 
        Constitution of the United States as interpreted by the 
        United States.

                                
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