Administrative Measures for the Ship Pollution Response Agreement Regime - 2025 Revision

With thanks to our correspondents Huatai Marine who have prepared the attached Circular - PNI [2025] 04, the Club would like to draw Members’ attention to the recent revision of the Administrative Measures for the Ship Pollution Response Agreement Regime issued by Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of the Ministry of Transport, People’s Republic of China, effective May 20, 2025. The 2020 edition will be repealed simultaneously.

The Huatai Circular - PNI [2025] 04 provides a free translation of the New Measures for the Members’ reference, setting out the core content of the amendments and highlighting key changes that strengthen and simplify the Administrative Measures for the Ship Pollution Response Regime.  and their significance. 

Key changes and their significance:

• Enhance the requirements of capability and training for senior command, on-site command and emergency operation personnel of SPROs, strengthen the sustainability of personnel capabilities, and eliminate the "one-time compliance" approach to personnel qualifications.
• Reduce cost burdens of SPROs, adapt to differentiated industry development, minimize unnecessary technological dependency, and achieve a balance between regulatory requirements and implementation feasibility.
• Strengthen the statutory supervisory responsibilities of maritime administrative authorities, ensure the emergency pollution response capabilities of SPROs, and establish a sound market order for ship pollution response.
• Encourage self-regulatory management.
• Expand the scope of ship exemptions for clean energy ships using alcohol, align with the green shipping trend, support the application of clean energy technologies, and reduce compliance costs for relevant ship operators.
• Strengthen dynamic management, avoid inconsistency of market information with respect to SPRO response capabilities or service area, protect the rights and interests of ship operators, and reduce risks of agreement performance.
• Clarify the timing and recipients of information submissions by SPROs, to simultaneously submit information published to the public and to the maritime administrative authorities, so as to facilitate the supervision and management by maritime administrative authorities.
• Specify the inspection time limits and frequencies for maritime administrative authorities to inspect SPROs and publish results and ensure that SPROs continuously maintain high-level emergency pollution response capabilities through institutionalized and regular supervision.
• Clarify the reporting objects for ship operators and SPROs under different scenarios, such as when terminating Ship Pollution Response Agreements.
• Tighten ownership requirements for emergency response ships, close loopholes in "agreement-based ownership" (e.g., leasing), strengthen the actual control of SPRO over emergency ships, and ensure the stability of emergency resources.

In summary, the implementation of the New Measures will further standardize the ship pollution response agreement regime, strengthen the management of Ship Pollution Response Organizations (SPROs), enhance emergency pollution response capabilities, and promote the healthy and orderly development of the industry. The revision focuses on the management of SPROs, supervision and inspection by maritime administrative authorities.