IMO Assembly Elects New 40-Member Council

The Members of the Council for the year 2020-2021 has been elected by the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization. The elected States are as follows:

Category (a) 10 States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services: China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States.

Category (b) 10 States with the largest interest in international seaborne trade: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

Category (c) 20 States not elected under (a) or (b) above, which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world: Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.

The IMO Council

The Council is the executive organ of IMO that is responsible for supervising the work of the Organization. All the functions except advising the Government about maritime safety and prevention of pollution is performed by the Council in between sessions of the Assembly.

After the 31st Assembly concludes, the new elected Council will meet on the 5th of December for its 123rd meeting and elect its Chair and Vice Chair for the next biennium.

IMO Assembly

The 31st Assembly of IMO is at the Headquarters of IMO in London from 25 November-4 December 2019. The meeting is to be attended by 174 Member States and three Associate Members making it the largest governing body of IMO. Others that are invited to attend include the intergovernmental organizations with which co-operation agreements have been concluded and international non-governmental organizations in consultative status with IMO.

In regular session, the Assembly usually meets once every two years. It gives approval for the work program, votes for the budget and determines the financial arrangement of the Organization. The 40-Member Council of the Organization is also elected by the Assembly.

Reference: imo.org