LEGISLATION/REGULATIONS
ON POLLUTION RESPONSE AT SEA

FRENCH TEXTS

• Prime minister’s instruction n° PRMX0104777J dated 2 April 2001 relative to the intervention of public authorities in the event of major maritime accidents.
• Prime minister’s instruction n° PRMX0205457J dated 4 March 2002 relative to intervention funds for accidental marine pollution.
• Prime minister’s instruction n° PRMX0205456C dated 4 March 2002 relative to pollution response in the marine environment.
• Prime minister’s instruction n° PRMX0205903C dated 15 July 2002 amending for certain municipalities of overseas French territories the instruction relative to pollution of the environment.
• Prime minister’s instruction n° PRMX0609020J dated 11 January 2006 amending the regulation relative to pollution response in the marine environment.
• Order n° 2004-112 dated 6 February 2004 relative to the organisation of State action at sea.
• Order n° 2005-1514 dated 6 December 2005 relative to the organisation in overseas French territories of State action at sea.
• Law n° 2004-811 dated 13 August 2004 relative to the modernisation of civil protection.
• Order n° 2005-1157 dated 13 September 2005 relative to the ORSEC plan and taken as the application of article 14 of law n° 2004-811 on the modernisation of civil protection.
• Prime minister’s instruction n° PRMX0407585J dated 29 July 2004 relative to the acceptance of vessels in difficulty in ports of refuge.

INTERNATIONAL TEXTS

• [IMO] International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties, signed on 29 November 1969 in Brussels, and its 1973 Protocol signed in London on 2 November 1973 – entry into force on 13 May 1995.
• [IMO] MARPOL 73/78 Convention - International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships – entry into force on 2 October 1983; many amendments of which the latest were in 2008.
• [IMO] International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC), signed 29 November 1969 – entry into force on 19 June 1975; Protocol of 27 November 1992, entry into force on 30 May 1996 and amendments adopted in 2000.
• [IMO] International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPRC), signed on 30 November 1990 – entry into force on 13 May 1995; Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Cooperation to Pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances (OPRC/HNS Protocol), signed on 15 March 2000 – entry into force on 14 June 2007.
• [UN] United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed in December 1982 in Montego Bay – entry into force on 16 November 1994.
• Barcelona Convention: Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution, signed on 16 February 1976 – entry into force on 12 October 1978. Amended version in force since 9 July 2004: Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean. This convention is derived from the REMPEC emergency protocol, which unites 21 coastal States of the Mediterranean Sea for response to marine pollution – entry into force in 2004.

REGIONAL AGREEMENTS

• Bonn Agreement: agreement for cooperation in dealing with pollution of the North Sea by oil, signed on 9 June 1969; amended and completed on 13 September 1983 by the Agreement for cooperation in dealing with pollution of the North Sea by oil and other harmful substances. Contracting parties: France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
• Manche Plan: Franco-British agreement, signed on 15 May 1978, revised version in force since 9 June 1993. Bilateral agreement between France and the UK in case of pollution in the Channel.
• Biscaye Plan: Franco-Spanish plan for maritime rescue and pollution response in the Bay of Biscay, signed in Bayonne on 25 November 1999.
• Lion Plan: Franco-Spanish agreement, signed on 22 July 2002, on technical cooperation and mutual assistance between France and Spain in terms of rescue and pollution response in the Gulf of Lion.
• RAMOGEPOL: an intervention plan to combat accidental marine pollution signed in 1993 as part of the RAMOGE Agreement between France, Italy and Monaco (an instrument of scientific, technical, legal and administrative cooperation for integrated management of the Mediterranean coast, signed on 10 May 1976 between France, Italy and Monaco, amended on 27 November 2003).