Ref. T4/7.01 MSC/Circ.1128
T5/1.01 MEPC/Circ.423
13 December 2004
1 The Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its forty-ninth session (14 to 18 July 2003) and the Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-eighth session (12 to 21 May 2004) agreed that products lacking essential data will not be included in the amendmentstotheIBCCode,adoptedbyMEPC.119(52)andMSC.176(79),whichareexpected to enter into force on 1 January 2007.
2 The essential data needed to assign Pollution Category and Ship Type based on the revisedGESAMPHazardProfileareA1(aquaticbioaccumulation),B1(acuteaquatictoxicity), E2 (physical effects on wildlife and benthic habitats), C1 (mammalian acute oral toxicity),
C2 (mammalian acute dermal toxicity) and C3 (mammalian acute inhalation toxicity). Information on A2 (aquatic biodegradation), B2 (chronic aquatic toxicity) and D3 (long-term human health effects) would also greatly assist the process.
3 The Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its fifty-second session (11 to 15 October 2004) and the Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-ninth session (1to10December2004),agreedtojointlycirculatethelistofproductswithmissingdata,as containedintheannextothiscircular,togiveindustrytheopportunitytoprovidemissingdatato theGESAMP/EHSWorkingGroupforevaluationandtoallowforsubsequentinclusionofthe productsin List1oftheMEPC.2Circular prior to the entry intoforce of the revised IBC Code.
4 In order to allow sufficient time for evaluation by the GESAMP/EHS Working Group and,wherenecessary,discussionbytheBLGSub-Committeeand/orESPHWorkingGroup,the data should be sent to the Secretariatof the GESAMP/EHS Working Group1 by
31 December 2005at the latest.
5 Information on the “Revised GESAMP Hazard Evaluation Procedure for Chemical Substances Carried by Ships” can be found in GESAMP Reports and Studies No. 64 (http://gesamp.imo.org/publicat.htm).
6 Member Governments and NGOs are urged to bring this circular and in particular the attached annex to the attention of the chemical industry and other parties concerned.
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1 The TechnicalSecretaryofGESAMP/EHS Working Group
InternationalMaritime Organization (IMO)
4 Albert Embankment LondonSEl7SR United Kingdom