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Committees and Sub-Committees

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

IMO has two governing bodies: an Assembly which comprises all Member Governments, which convenes biennially and which elects a 40 member Council. The Council governs IMO's affairs between Assemblies. Canada has been elected part of the 40 Member Council since 1959.

The main work of IMO is directed by the following Committees: Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC), Legal Committee (LEG), Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC), and Facilitation Committee (FAL).

In addition, the MSC and MEPC have nine sub-committees which deal with purely technical matters such as safety of navigation, radio communications, life-saving, search and rescue, standards of training and watchkeeping, carriage of dangerous goods, ship design and equipment, fire protection, stability of ships, load lines, fishing vessel safety, containers and cargoes, bulk chemicals and flag state implementations of conventions (please see Figure 1 ).

Detailed information on the IMO is available from the IMO website. Delegates may also refer to the publications Basic Documents and the Convention on the IMO, which sets forth the purposes, functions, memberships, rules of procedure and other fundamental aspects of the IMO.

Date modified:
2010-01-14