29-31 October 2008

Purpose and background

The Joint Working Group was established by decisions adopted by the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, the fifty-first session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee, and the 291st session of the ILO Governing Body.

The aim of the Joint Working Group is, inter alia, to:

• consider the respective work programmes of the ILO, IMO and the Basel Convention on the issue of ship scrapping in order to avoid duplication of work and overlapping of responsibilities and competencies between the three organizations, and identify further needs;
  
• to undertake a comprehensive initial examination of the relevant ILO, IMO and Basel Convention guidelines on ship scrapping, with a view to identifying any possible gaps, overlaps, or ambiguities; and
  
• to consider mechanisms to promote jointly their implementation.
  

Previous sessions of the Joint Working Group

The first session of the Joint Working Group was held from 15 to 17 February 2005 at the Headquarters of the IMO.

The second session was held from 12 to 14 December 2005 at the United Nations Office in Geneva.

Useful links

• ILO publications and documents concerning shipbreaking
  
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (the “Basel Convention”) and the issue of ship dismantling
  
• International Maritime Organization and the issue of ship recycling