IMO and ILO IMO Conventions Acceptance

Procedure
IMO Conventions Acceptance Procedure
When an IMO convention is open for signing the Member State has the following options:

• Ratification (also referred as signature, acceptance or approval) – The Member State

expresses its consent to be bound by a convention

• Sign a convention subject to ratification, acceptance or approval – The Member State

is not bound by the convention. However, it is obliged to refrain from acts which would
defeat the object and purpose of the convention until such time as it has made its
intention clear not to become a party to the convention.

Many Member States choose to sign “subject to ratification, acceptance or approval”, as it

provides them with an opportunity to ensure that any necessary legislation is enacted and
other constitutional requirements fulfilled before entering into treaty commitments.

Accession is the procedure by which a Member State can become a party to a convention,
which it did not sign whilst the convention was open for signature.

The Entry into Force or the prescribed time at which a convention becomes binding on the
signatories is dependent on the requirements specified in the convention.

A Member State which has signed a convention or any other IMO agreement is referred to
as party to agreement or contracting state or signatory to that Convention. A Member
State which has not signed the convention is said to be non-party to the agreement.
Agreements are also referred to as treaties.

In the classical or positive amendment procedure used in early conventions, Amendments

came into force only after a percentage of contracting states, usually two thirds, had
accepted them. This created two obvious difficulties.

• Long delay in Entry into Force due to increase in number of signatories. As the
Membership of IMO increased the number of signatories required was often higher
than the number which brought the relevant convention into force e.g. when SOLAS

1
 IMO and ILO IMO Conventions Acceptance
Procedure
1960 was adopted there were only 15 signatories but by the late 1960’s there were
nearly 80 Member States. This was one of the reasons for the Amendments between
1966 and 1973 not coming into force.

• Member States enacting local legislation unilaterally. This disrupted free movement of
ships.

In order to speed up the process, tacit acceptance or passive acceptance procedure has
been adopted. It allows an amendment to enter into force at a particular time unless before
that date, objections to the amendment are received from a specified number of Parties. This
period may be varied by the Maritime Safety Committee with a minimum limit of one year.

The tacit acceptance amendment procedure is now incorporated into the majority of IMO’s
technical conventions. Its effectiveness can be seen most clearly in the case of SOLAS 1974.
The convention’s technical content has been almost completely re-written using the tacit
acceptance procedure of adopting amendments.