By Toby McIntosh
The United Nations agency charged with overseeing ocean shipping significantly limits access to documents and severely restricts press coverage of its meetings.
The International Maritime Organization’s lack of transparency is evident in four main ways:
- The IMO gives industry and nongovernmental organizations privileged access to information, most importantly to pre-meeting proposals and reports not available to the public or the press. (See more here.)
- The IMO impedes press coverage of its open meetings. Reporters are prohibited from quoting statements made by delegates during the open meetings, or even describing governments’ positions, unless they get explicit permission. (See more here.)
- The IMO lacks a comprehensive disclosure policy for handling public requests for documents. (See more here.)
- The IMO gives its 174 member governments control over whether or not to release the “audits” done to evaluate their compliance with IMO rules. As a result, almost no audits are disclosed. (See more here.)
In combination, the policies make the IMO less open than many of its fellow UN agencies.
Although the rules originated to foster frank discussion, collegiality and comity, they also reduce transparency and accountability.
They seem increasingly anachronistic as the London-based organization deals with higher profile and controversial environmental matters, such as how to control air and water pollution from ocean shipping.
For more detail see these for segments
- Special interests get special access to documents,
- Restrictions on press coverage,
- The absence of a freedom of information policy, and
- How member governments can veto access to audits of their performance.
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