1997 Air Pollution Prevention Conference and
Marine Environment Protection Committee’s (MEPC) 40th Session

Regulatory Development	Ship+ Application
New annex VI to Marpol
Entry Into Force Provisions
Application and Exemptions	All Ships > 400 gt
Ozone Depleting Substances	New Ships > 400 gt
Fuel Oil Quality and Sulphur Caps	All Ships > 400 gt
Bunker Delivery Notes	All Ships > 400 gt
Emission Control Areas (ECAs)	All Ships in an ECA
Fuel Oil Monitoring
Shipboard Incineration	New Ships > 400 gt
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)	All Tankers > 400 gt
CO2 Emissions

Mandatory Code on Nox Emissions

Application of the Code	All Ships > 400 gt
Emission Limits
Engine Certification

Ballast Water Management

Recommended Practices
Ship Board Operations	All Ships
Port State Provisions
Future Regulation

Ship Operations

Intact Stability	New Oil Tankers
Capacity of Segregaed Ballast Tanks	Non-DH Tankers
Restricted Operation in the North Sea	All Ships
Alternative Tanker Design Approved	New Tankers
Reclassifying Oil Under MARPOL	New Tankers
Identification of Cargo Oil	All Oil Tankers
Anti-fouling Paints	All ships
FPSOs and FSUs Discharges	New and Existing

( + ships are all marine craft including barges, drill rigs, submersibles, platforms)

Delegations from 60 Parties to the MARPOL 73/78 Convention convened a 1997 Air Pollution Prevention Conference from 15 to 26 September 1997 and adopted the 1997 Protocol of the MARPOL 73/78 Convention which, upon entry into force, will implement a new Annex VI to MARPOL 73/78.

As described below, the provisions of new Annex VI, which were developed over a period of 6 years, generally apply to various emissions from engines and equipment installed on ships.

In conjunction with the Conference, the 40th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) also met at the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) Headquarters in London. This was the 6th and last session to be chaired by the Netherlands. The MEPC unanimously elected Australia to take the chair for the next session, and most likely future MEPC meetings.

An overview of the air pollution adopted during the Air Pollution Conference as well as other regulations and draft guidelines accepted during MEPC 40 are presented below.