IMO : Strengthening Albania’s capacity t Anti-fouling Systems Convention
A national in-person workshop to assist Albania with implementing the IMO Anti-fouling Systems (AFS) Convention has taken place in Durres, Albania (28-29 September 2022).
The AFS Convention sets controls on certain harmful substances in anti-fouling systems, including organotin compounds (TBTs) and, from 2023, cybutryne.
Some 20 government officials were sensitized in the actions Albania should take at a national level to fully implement and enforce the AFS Convention.
The workshop covered technical and regulatory aspects of anti-fouling systems and assessed whether Albania has an adequate national legal framework in place allowing for transposition of the AFS Convention.
The workshop programme included presentations and a site visit to a local shipyard, which offered participants the opportunity to see in practice and discuss relevant aspects affecting implementation and enforcement including survey, inspection and waste management.
The workshop was requested by the Administration of Albania as the country is in the process of acceding to the AFS Convention.
The workshop was delivered through IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP).
Since the adoption of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships (AFS Convention) in 2001,
IMO has run a series of national and regional workshops to encourage and assist countries in the ratification of the convention and in its effective implementation and enforcement.
As a result, the number of States signing up to the convention continues to rise and now stands at 94 countries, which represent 96.12% of world merchant shipping tonnage.
