Joint ILO/IMO/Basel Convention Working Group on Ship Scrapping (Third Session)

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.

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.

The third session, held from 29 to 31 October 2009 at the ILO Headquarters in Geneva, produced a set of recommendations on interim measures for preparing the entry into force of the forthcoming IMO convention on ship recycling. The Joint Working Group also approved the development of the Global Programme for Sustainable Ship Recycling as well as the cooperation and coordination between the three Secretariats regarding the development of joint technical cooperation activities.