Regulators

The International Maritime Organisation is the main regulatory body which provides standards for safety of operations and of the environment for shipping on a global basis.

Once the measures proposed by the IMO are agreed and ratified by its member-countries, they become law at country level as governments delegate local authorities to carry out the effective application of the same and monitoring compliance.

Some regions and countries may choose to implement their own regulations either in addition to or ahead of IMO to deal with specific problem areas or imminent requirements in their locality.

In Europe the EU Commission (DG Environment) has been very active in the application of sulphur control areas complimentary to the Marpol Annex VI provisions.

Other authorities which have been effectively tackling poor air quality caused by increased shipping traffic at their ports are the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).