A summary of the decisions taken at the sixty-sixth session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC66) held from 31 March to 4 April 2014 is provided as below for your information.

1. Implementation of Tier III NOx emission standard (refer to Resolution MEPC.251(66) as the attachment 1.)
MARPOL Annex VI requires the reduction of NOx emission from ships in a phased approach. Ships currently under construction are to comply with Tier II NOx emission standard. The effective dates of Tier III standard will be decided upon the review of the status of technological developments for its implementation, which would be completed by 2013. Tier III NOx emission standard will be applied to ships operating in Emission Control Area(ECA).
As a result of the review, it was reported to MEPC 65 (May 2013) that Tier III should be started from 2016 as originally scheduled. On the other hand, at MEPC 65, the proposal from Russia to delay the effective dates at least for five (5) years gained much support and the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI with the effective dates extended to 2021 was approved.
At this session, however, the draft amendments were rejected. Instead, draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI to determine the effective dates of Tier III on a case by case basis for any future Emission Control Areas.
Accordingly, Tier III NOx emission standards for the existing Emission Control Area (the North American area and the U.S. Caribbean area) would be applied to the ship constructed on or after 1 January 2016. Tier III NOx emission standards for the newly designated Emission Control Area would be applied to the ship constructed on or after the date of adoption of such an emission control area, or a later date as may be specified in the amendment designating the NOx Tier III emission control area, whichever is later.

2. Green House Gases (GHG)
Kyoto Protocol, a protocol to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aiming at the reduction of Green House Gases (GHG) worldwide, excludes international shipping from its scope and stipulates that the IMO should consider the countermeasures against the GHG emission from the international shipping.

(To be continued)