Extraordinary Session of All Committees (ALCOM) - 16-18, 21 September (Remote meeting)

Interim guidance on remote IMO meeting sessions adopted

IMO's five Committees have adopted interim guidance to facilitate remote sessions of the IMO Committees during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will allow IMO's important technical work to continue through the pandemic, until its Headquarters can be reopened for physical meetings. 

The aim of the guidance is to facilitate the work of the Committees using a structured and transparent methodology aimed at standardizing the conduct of remote sessions in view of exceptional circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Importantly, the Committees agreed on a procedure for decision-making in remote sessions that will allow technical work to progress. 

The guidance is intended for temporary use during the COVID-19 pandemic and will be kept under review as necessary, to incorporate experiences gained in the conduct of remote sessions. 

The Committees adopted the interim guidance during the Extraordinary Session of All Committees (ALCOM), held 16-121 September as a remote meeting. This was the first formal remote session using a specialist platform (KUDO), which allowed for simultaneous interpretation into the six languages of the Organization.

All five IMO Committees participated: the Maritime Safety Committee, the Marine Environmental Protection Committee, the Legal Committee, the Technical Cooperation Committee and the Facilitation Committee.

Following the ALCOM session, the MSC met in extraordinary session (21 September) to discuss the crew change crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.