By Toby McIntosh
The International Maritime Organization lacks a comprehensive policy governing access to information.
Instead, the IMO has a one-page chart.
The absence of a policy contrasts with the situation at many other UN bodies, such as the UN Environmental Program and the UN Development Program, which have adopted policies akin to the national freedom of information laws operating in almost 120 countries. All the major international financial institutions also have disclosure policies.
[A notable exception is the UN Secretariat, which in February said hinted that this could change when an official disclosed an internal discussion to decide who would be the official custodian documents. But by June, still no decision. See previous article in eyeonglobaltransparency.net.]
The IMO chart has none of the elements of a typical disclosure policy.
Disclosure policies establish a “presumption of disclosure” while also defining exemptions to protect certain kinds of information. Requests for documents are evaluated based on these standards.
Disclosure policies lay out procedures for making requests, set deadlines for responses and establish mechanisms for appealing denials.
These policies usually are 10 to 20 pages long.
The IMO has a one-page chart, provided by Natasha Brown, an IMO Media and Communications Office, to eyeonglobaltransparency.net (EYE). (See full text below.) The chart from 2008 isn’t posted on the public portion of the IMO website.
[This article is one of a series. See main article here.]
List of Documents Available, or Not
The IMO chart lists 11 kinds of documents, such as agendas and summary records, and indicates whether they are made available.
Not many documents are available prior to meetings. The agency usually releases provisional agendas and lists of expected attendees in advance.
Not available prior to meetings are: “Session documents, i.e. submissions by the Secretariat, Member States and Organizations and correspondence groups,”the chart says.
“During Meetings,” the chart continues, working papers and draft reports are not available.
Afterwards, however, pre-meeting documents are posted on the IMO website. Such disclosure appears to be the usual practice for committees and subcommittees, though not for working groups, whose meetings are closed.
Available after meetings, according to the chart, are “Session documents, i.e. submissions by the Secretariat, Member States and Organizations and correspondence groups,” final reports of meetings, Assembly resolutions, final lists of documents and final lists of participants.”
Not available after meetings are Council documents and decisions and “summary records.”
The IMO disclosure policy chart was adopted in 2008 by the IMO Council, the agency’s key executive body, Brown said.
There is no public record of that action. The summaries of the 2008 Council meeting don’t mention it. Brown said, “We don’t always include every decision.”
Document System Incomplete
IMODOCS is the IMO’s main document repository. As the website puts it, “Selected content is available to the public.” Registration is required, but there doesn’t seem to any barrier to getting registered.
Greater access is provided to “consultative members,” nongovernmental groups who are approved to participate in IMO meetings. Their representatives get passwords that allow them to view the same materials accessible to IMO government members.
Assessed the archive, Transparency International concluded:
The level of transparency around the IMO’s administration is high and information about the remit, powers and rules of procedure of its key organs (the assembly, the council and the committees) is easily accessible. The IMO also publishes an archive of conventions, including their amendments, signatories and ratifications, and a database of resolutions passed by key organs, although this information is provided inconsistently. The IMO does not operate an access to information policy.
The level of transparency of the IMO’s activities is more limited. There is no substantive information published about the council or the secretariat’s activities, including the election of national representatives to the council. Records of recent assembly and committee meetings are detailed and relatively comprehensive but they do not include information on how chairs and vice chairs are nominated and elected to their positions on committees, working groups or correspondence groups.
Financial Regulations Not Posted
What else might IMO watchers want?
Transparency International identified one such possibility.
“The IMO does not publish its financial regulations,” TI wrote in a preliminary report released April 3, 2018.
In particular, TI said, the IMO should disclose the formula used to calculate the level of contributions by members. In 2016, ten states provided 64% of all contributions, which was 35% of the IMO’s total income. They are based on a “flat base rate with additional components based on ability to pay and merchant fleet tonnage,” according to the IMO, but TI said all the detail should be public.
While voting at the IMO is by one vote per member, IMO conventions enter into force following ratification by a minimum of 30 states representing 35 percent of world merchant shipping tonnage.
Hint of Policy Change
An amendment may be on the horizon, according to a hint given by Brown to eyeonglobaltrasnparency.net.
“The policy on access to IMO documents is likely to be discussed/updated at the next session of the IMO Council…,” Brown said.
But the scope of the potential change is unknown and it likely will be discussed in a closed meeting scheduled for July 2-6. The Council can open its meetings, but rarely does.
The strategic plan for 2018-2023 does not mention transparency as a goal.
Brown declined to provide further details. Proposals are not released to the public in advance of meetings.
“Should the Council meeting this year decide to make any changes, they will issue a new decision,” Brown said. “For example, they might make a decision about the audio recordings of meetings which are on the IMODOCS website and available to Member States.” IMODOCS refers to the IMO’s online document repository.
Brown’s comment on audio recordings suggests a limited change and one that would be somewhat unusual.
The IMO does not disclose summaries, according to its chart. What’s more, the chart states: “(summary records have now been replaced with audio recordings).”
Typically, international organizations release minutes or summaries of meetings, of varied detail. Audio recordings are not considered helpful reference tools. However, they can be too revealing, so most international organizations decline to release them.
Neither summaries nor audio recordings of Council meetings appear on IMODOCS.
The section on Council documents available to the public contains nothing after 2011. The “Council Summary Records” page has no documents.
The IMO does not release “Summaries” of meetings or “Council Documents and Decisions,” according to the chart. (Also unreleased are “session papers,” working papers or draft reports.)
Decisions by the Council would likely be conveyed via an IMO press release.
EYE Requests Go Unanswered
An email address to make inquiries of the IMO is provided on the IMO website here.
However, several emails by eyeonglobaltransparency.net concerning Council records went unacknowledged.
A follow-up request to the head librarian Sharon Lynn Grant went unanswered.
Text of IMO Access Chart (format not perfectly reproduced)
ACCESS TO IMO DOCUMENTS
VIA THE IMO PUBLIC WEBSITE
DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE
Prior to meetings
-Agendas Yes
– Session documents, i.e. submissions by the Secretariat, Member States and Organizations, including reports of correspondence groups and intersessional working groups No
During meetings
– Working papers No
– Draft reports No
Post meetings
– Session documents, i.e. submissions by the Secretariat, Member States and Organizations and correspondence groups Yes
– Final reports of meetings Yes
– Assembly resolutions Yes
– Final lists of documents Yes
– Final lists of participants Yes
– Council Documents and Decisions No
– Summary Records No
(summary records have now been replaced with audio recordings)
