Regional Workshop on Response to Spill Incidents involving Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) (MEDEXPOL 2018) – Jun 20, 2018

The Regional Workshop on Response to Spill Incidents involving Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) (MEDEXPOL 2018) was held at the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC)'s Offices in Valletta, Malta from 20 to 21 June 2018. 

The Workshop organised by REMPEC and co-financed by the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) and the Mediterranean Trust Fund (MTF) was convened pursuant to the Programme of Work and Budget for 2018-2019 of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) adopted by the Twentieth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (“the Barcelona Convention”) and its Protocols (COP 20).

In accordance with the Programme of Work of the Mediterranean Technical Working Group (MTWG) for the biennium 2018-2019, the principal objectives of the Workshop were to examine and agree upon the draft updated “Guidelines on Risk of Gaseous Releases resulting from Marine Incidents”, to agree on the way forward for a joint inter-regional effort, between the Secretariat of the Bonn Agreement, the Secretariat of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) and REMPEC, aiming at updating their respective response manuals for Hazardous and Noxious Substances spills through the possible production of a Joint Inter-Regional Manual; and to provide an overview of achievements and undergoing works on guidelines and tools related to HNS and to discuss their complementarity and the way forward for future developments to address identified challenges.

Thirty-six (36) participants representing sixteen (16) Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, European Union, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and Türkiye) as well as Regional and International Organisations: IMO, The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds), the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Transport Canada, the Centro Tecnológico del Mar (CETMAR), the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF), Bonn Agreement and HELCOM participated in this Workshop. 

All documents, presentations and video recording of the event as well as the report are available on REMPEC’s event page.