Developing national legislation to tackle sea-based plastic litter

Support for countries developing or amending national policy and legislation to tackle sea-based marine plastic litter (SBMPL) to reflect internationally agreed policy and legal frameworks is being provided through a series of Global Webinars under the GloLitter Partnerships project, IMO said in its media release.  

The first webinar (24 May) covered issues including the international governance framework, the international response to plastic litter in the marine environment, and guidance on the inclusion of plastic waste from ships into national waste management legislation. It involved 36 participants from 12 countries.  

Marine plastic litter is recognised as a major environmental problem. Under MARPOL Annex V the discharge of all types of garbage into the sea from ships is prohibited, except in cases explicitly permitted under the Annex - for example food waste and cargo residues. The London Convention and Protocol put in place measures to prevent pollution of the marine environment caused by the dumping of waste at sea. Read more here about IMO’s work to address the problem of marine plastic litter.  

The GloLitter Partnerships project was established in 2019 by IMO and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with initial funding from the Government of Norway. It assists developing countries in identifying opportunities to prevent and reduce marine litter from maritime transport and the fishing sector.

The Global Webinar series is targeted at GloLitter National Focal Points and Points of Contact, as well as national legal consultants engaged in legislative and policy work related to marine plastic litter. The webinars form part of work towards the GloLitter project’s Outcome 2: National status, policies and action plans specific to shipping and fisheries are in place with Legal, Policy and Institutional Reforms (LPIR) undertaken at national levels.  

Model legislation and national regulatory guidance which includes SBMPL in national waste management legislation has now been developed, with specific reference to shipping. The project is therefore moving on to the implementation stage which will focus will be on building the capacity of the GloLitter partnering countries to implement this guidance and to model legislation in their respective countries.