IMO Council makes key changes to how it conducts meetings

The IMO Council has modernized its meeting procedures to formally allow virtual participation and public livestreaming of plenary discussions.

At its 133rd session (18 - 22 November), the approved several amendments to its Rules of Procedures, stipulating the following:  

• Council sessions are to be held in person, with capabilities for hybrid participation.  
• Members participating either in person or remotely through the hybrid system shall be counted in determining quorum. 
• The phrase "Members present" means Members present at the meeting, participating either in person or remotely through the hybrid system. 
• The Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Council shall be present in person, unless exceptional circumstances arise. 
• Council sessions will be held in public unless the Council decides otherwise, and public meetings of the Council will be live-streamed. 

The Council did not agree to proxy voting.  

Live-streaming Council meetings  

The Council adopted a resolution on the Criteria and procedures for live-streaming to the public of IMO Council plenary meetings, following its decision at its previous session to live-stream plenary meetings (previously closed to the media and public), with a view to enhancing transparency and access to information.

The resolution states that plenary meetings of the Council should normally be live-streamed to the public, except for the following: 

• parts of the Council during which vote casting takes place (not limited to voting by secret ballot);  
• parts of the Council related to the appointment of the Secretary-General; and 
• any other discussion that the Council may decide should not be live-streamed.  

Meetings of working, drafting, review, expert, intersessional and editing groups should not be live-streamed to the public. 

Key issues

The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization. The Council is made up of 40 Member States, elected by the Assembly for two-year terms.

Other important matters addressed by the Council include: enhancing multilingualism; updates from the IMO Member State Audit Scheme; improving the GISIS platform; as well as organizational issues such as Member State contributions, budget and human resources.

Read the full meeting summary for C 133