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bremen, 26. June 2003
the threat of regional action – how to
improve maritime safety and environmental
protection in the north and baltic seas
joint ministerial meeting (jmm) of helcom
and osparcom
Coalition Clean Baltic and Friends of the
Earth International are disappointed with the
outcome of the shipping chapter of the JMM.
True, some progress has been made during the
ministerial meeting. Specifically, the
ministers agreed to speed up the entry into
force of several instruments dealing with
ballast water, antifouling, liability and
damage compensation. The ministers also
declared to support work on the Clean Ship
concept.
As the Environmental Senator of Bremen
nicely put it:” Good ships have to drive bad
ships out of business”.
However, in the area of maritime traffic
much more needs to be done to really improve
marine environmental protection. The
Ministers should recognize that they all,
jointly and on their own, have a role to play
in ensuring the success of those initiatives
delegated to other bodies, and a
responsibility to act themselves if these
organizations fail to deliver.
The most important issues where the JMM
did not meet our expectations are:
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The ministers deferred action
elsewhere, without making clear what they
expect from those fora.
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No clear deadlines were given.
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Appropriate actions at OSPAR/HELCOM
level to safeguard the marine environment
are missing in the declaration.
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Finally, they deleted the text on a
joint application of PSSA status for the
Baltic Sea !
To counteract this important omission at
least partly, we urge all Baltic coastal
states to request mandatory pilotage for
every narrow, restricted and congested waters
immediately. As PSSA is the best tool for
integrated protection and safety measures, we
urge the ministers to take the lead in
proposing a Baltic PSSA at IMO to compensate
the missed opportunity of a joint HELCOM
application.
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