Discussion of IMSAS(IMO Member State Audit Scheme), Assembly meeting, and Council member election on the agenda

Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok) has announced that it will attend the 125th session of the International Maritime Organization Council, which will be run in a videoconference format from June 28 (Mon.) through July 2 (Fri.). IMO has been conducting all meetings online since September 2020 as in-person gatherings have been restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

*The International Maritime Organization works under the auspices of the United Nations to establish, amend, and enforce international regulations governing maritime safety and maritime environmental protection. IMO has 174 full member states and three associate members.

The IMO Council performs administrative duties such as deliberating the IMO’s budget and establishing regulations concerning staff appointments. The Council is also a venue for discussing overall issues related to the Organization’s operation including the review of operational plans for enacting and revising international conventions. The Council consists of forty member states elected during the biennial Assembly attended by all members. The Republic of Korea was first elected as one of the ten Category (A) states within the IMO in November 2001. Category (A) states have the largest interest in providing international shipping services and all serve on the Council. The Republic of Korea has maintained its position in Category (A) for the past two decades, covering ten consecutive elections.

The 40 Countries Currently on the IMO Council

All forty IMO Council member states are scheduled to participate in the 125th session. The Republic of Korea plans to attend the meeting by forming a delegation with professional organizations related to the maritime sector, such as the Korea Center for International Maritime Safety Cooperation (KMC), Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority (KOMSA), Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), and Mokpo National Maritime University (MMU).

The upcoming Council is to cover issues, including the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) that is for inspecting the implementing state of international conventions of each IMO member state. In particular, the consideration of a remote audit mechanism for IMSAS, the ensuing schedule of each IMO member state and the modality for the conduct of an audit are to be discussed due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

* IMSAS is a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which audit criteria are fulfilled.

In particular, holding the 32nd IMO Assembly that is to be held from December 6 through 15 this year in a remote way and voting modality for members of the 2022-2023 Council are going to be determined in the upcoming Council. On May 5, the Republic of Korea was named a candidate for an 11th consecutive term as a member of Category (A).

“The Republic of Korea, a maritime powerhouse with the fifth place in shipping and the first in shipbuilding in the world, has been maintaining the status of a category (A) member of the IMO Council for two decades,” said Hwang Jong-woo, Director General of the Maritime Safety Policy Bureau of MOF. “The Republic of Korea will respond to the upcoming IMO Council, closely analyzing primary agendas including the consideration of a remote audit mechanism for IMSAS and the voting modality for IMO Council so that of the Republic of Korea can see fruitful results corresponding with common interests of IMO Member States.”