Extension of the Mandate of the HNS Correspondence Group

Posted: 25/04/2015

At its 102nd session, held in April 2015, the IMO Legal Committee decided to extend the mandate of the HNS Correspondence Group until its next session (tentatively scheduled for June 2016) and added three items to its Terms of Reference which would be the focus of the Correspondence Group in the year to come.

The Coordinator of the Correspondence Group had provided the Committee with a summary of the Group’s discussions and activities over the previous year and made recommendations for the extension of the Group’s mandate to allow it to focus on further developing three specific work items in the year to come, namely:

1. “Understanding the HNS Convention” publication;
2. HNS Scenarios; and
3. A draft Legal Committee resolution on implementation and entry into force of the 2010 HNS Convention.

The Legal Committee agreed to extend the mandate of the Correspondence Group with the addition of those three specific items to its Terms of Reference. Further details of those items and their intended use to States considering ratification of the Protocol can be found under the Group’s dedicated blog at: www.hnsprotocol.wordpress.com