§ Mr. Cordleasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he is yet able to announce a date for the introduction of legislation to implement the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships; and, if not, if he will detail each of the various steps in the process of necessary consultation with interested parties regarding the implementation of the convention which his Department has taken since 1st January 1975.
§ Mr. ShoreI am not yet able to announce a date for the introduction of legislation to implement the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 and I regret that I do not expect to be able to do so in the near future. As explained in previous replies to the hon. Member, the application of the convention's provisions poses a number of problems which do not offer quick or easy solutions.
Since 1st January 1975 work has continued on these problems. In particular the Department has been associated with work which has continued in Government and industry on the development of monitoring and control equipment to cover the full range of oils as defined in the convention. It is also in discussion with industry on the problems involved in the provision of reception facilities. As a 244W result, it expects to contribute to discussions on these topics at the next session of IMCO's Marine Environment Protection Committee to be held from 23rd to 27th June next where it also hopes to learn of the ways in which other countries are dealing with them.