Decision ID: 003448

In June 2008 the 1992 Fund Administrative Council recalled that the Assembly had in October 2007 established a Working Group (the HNS Focus Group) with the aim of facilitating the entry into force of the 1996 International Convention on liability and compensation for damage in connection with the carriage of hazardous and noxious substances by sea (HNS Convention). The Council appoved the text of a draft Protocol to the HNS Convention prepared by the HNS Focus Group and instructed the Director to finalise the text, retaining footnotes of a technical or editorial nature in order to aid the interpretation of the draft Protocol. The Administrative Council instructed the Director to submit the text of the draft Protocol to the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requesting him to refer it to the IMO Legal Committee for consideration with a view to convening a Diplomatic Conference to consider the draft Protocol at the earliest opportunity. The Administrative Council also instructed the Director to draw the Secretary-General’s attention to the following topics, where consideration by the Legal Committee might be beneficial: a) the time periods for the amendment procedure in Article 48, which might be brought in line with Article 24 of the Supplementary Fund Protocol; b) the entry into force conditions in Article 46, since these would be crucial to ensuring the successful entry into force of the Convention.