IMO Secretary-General William O'Neil will travel to Brussels this
Tuesday to meet the Vice-President of the European Commission, Loyola de Palacio, to discuss action contemplated to be taken in the aftermath of the Prestige accident off the NW coast of Spain in November 2002.
O'Neil has proposed that the focus of the meeting should be on:
- the measures which need to be taken to prevent recurrence of
Prestige-type accidents (the outcome of the investigation into the
casualty should be taken into account when these are being finalized);
- the need to have any such measures fully analysed and their
implications (technical, legal and economic) thoroughly examined so that
decisions could then be made against the background of an adequate
global picture of the situation;
- the recognition that IMO is the correct forum to address issues
stemming from the Prestige accident related to the elaboration and
adoption of any regulatory measures affecting shipping engaged in
international trade from the maritime safety and pollution prevention
and control points of view required to remedy the situation, as had been
done in previous cases; and
- the ways and means to introduce such measures at IMO so that they
can be dealt with in the most expeditious manner and also the steps
which need to be taken next in order to give effect to any proposals
which may be made regarding the Prestige incident.
O'Neil notes that the expeditious and successful way IMO acted on
safety, environmental protection and liability and compensation
proposals submitted in the aftermath of the Erika disaster in 1999
indicates that an equally prompt reaction to any proposals submitted by
Governments to prevent Erika or Prestige-type incidents recurring in the
future would be assured.