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Japan sinks G8 move on tanker
safety
By Julio Godoy
PARIS -
Maritime measures to prevent spills from oil tankers
will be off the agenda at the Group of Eight (G8)
meeting in June. Japan scuttled a German proposal to
include the issue on the agenda, according to documents
from preparatory discussions among environment ministers
of the eight countries. The Russian delegation is
reported to have backed the Japanese objections.
Environment ministers from the G8 countries met
in Paris this past weekend to discuss the environmental
issues that need to be taken up at the June meeting.
Leaders from the G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and
the Russian Federation) are due to meet in Evian,
France, from June 1-3.
The environment ministers
"are not in a position to prejudge the discussion by G8
leaders in Evian", Japanese officials are reported to
have argued. They strongly opposed a ban on
single-hull-frame oil tankers at the preparatory talks.
They also opposed proposals to place greater legal
responsibility on ship owners and on oil companies
renting the ships.
These issues have become a
prime concern among European environmentalists,
governments and fishermen since the oil tanker Prestige
sank in Spanish territorial waters late last year. The
Prestige, a single-hull-frame oil tanker carrying some
77,000 tonnes of oil, sank on November 19 about 300
kilometers northwest of the Spanish coast. Oil spilled
from the Prestige polluted hundreds of kilometers of the
Spanish and French Atlantic coasts, and led to a
temporary trade ban on seafood from those regions.
The Prestige disaster followed an accident
involving another tanker, the Erika, in December 1999.
The wreckage of the Erika spilled about 20,000 tonnes of
oil on to the French Atlantic coast. The Erika was also
a single-hull ship. Both the Prestige and the Erika were
manufactured in Japan.
"The Japanese position at
the preparatory meetings was to block any initiative to
enhance maritime transport safety," said Helene Ballande
from Friends of the Earth.
The German proposal
had read: "The G8 countries agree that the heavy grades
of oil shall only be transported in double-hulled
tankers. Members shall undertake not to accept
single-hulled tankers carrying the heaviest grades of
oil into or out of their ports, terminals or anchorage
areas."
The Japanese delegation argued: "Drastic
elimination of single-hulled tankers may have a serious
impact on the shipping industry and stable energy
supply, and such an economic impact needs to be duly
considered." They said "specific measures [to enhance
maritime transport safety] should be flexible, because
national circumstances should be taken into account".
The Japanese delegation opposed inspections of
tankers at ports, controlled navigation in narrow
waters, and a requirement to report evident defects in
ships and deficiencies in the performance of crews to
authorities. It asked for deletion of a paragraph on
"strengthening of liability rules" from any declaration
at the G8 summit.
"The documents show that the
Japanese government wants to weaken every commitment the
G8 environmental ministers intend to make on maritime
transport," Ballande said. "Under the present liability
regime mandated by the IMO [International Maritime
Organization], oil companies chartering unsuitable
vessels do not carry full responsibility for the
transport of oil."
The Spanish government says
the Prestige spill has so far cost more than US$1
billion. Under the present liability regime, the maximum
compensation for victims from the wreckage is only $180
million. This sum does not cover environmental
liabilities.
"The G8 countries are home to most
of the world's multinationals," Ballande said. "The G8
governments are the most responsible for exploitation of
the world's resources and must deliver rights for
communities to redress environmental crimes by
multinationals."
Several environmental
organizations such as Greenpeace say the G8 is not the
right forum to treat issues of world interest.
The summit is due to take up development in
Africa, privatization of water, good international
governance and the ethical responsibility of private
enterprises. Under strong pressure from the United
States, terrorism will be an important subject to be
taken up at the June summit.
(Inter Press
Service)
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