IMO

[|International Maritime Organization (IMO)] came into being in 1958 as IMCO, and later, in 1982, became the IMO. It is a UN agency. Its main mission is to develop and maintain international rules for shipping, which include safety, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical cooperation and efficiency in shipping. The IMO has 167 member states at the present time. The IMO addresses technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping, including maritime safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of marine pollution from ships. Trade facilitation and security are areas of the IMO's work that related to cross-border trade transactions. =IMO's work related to trade facilitation= The IMO’s Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL) was adopted in 1965 to prevent unnecessary delays in maritime traffic, to aid cooperation between governments, and to secure the highest practicable degree of uniformity in formalities and other procedures. The IMO’s Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) addresses maritime safety and its most recent update is from 1974. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the members of the IMO agreed to develop security measures for ships and ports. The result was the International Ship and Port Facility Code (ISPS Code), which is an amendment to SOLAS. ISPS lays down requirements with respect to maritime security and recommendations on ways in which these requirements shall be met. The ISPS code was introduced in July 2004 and, in August of the same year, 89.5% of 9 000 ports and more than 90% of all ships had been approved in accordance with the Code. =IMO instruments that are covered in this wiki=
 * The Convention of Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention), 1975 ||