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Proceedings 2021/051

Proceedings of the National Advisory Meeting on the Evaluation of Existing Risk Assessment Methods for Granting Ballast Water Management Exemptions; February 23–25, 2021

Chairperson: Thomas Pratt

Editors: Sarah Bailey, Dawson Ogilvie, Stephanie Sardelis, and Alex Tuen

Summary

These Proceedings summarize discussions, recommendations, and conclusions from the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat National Advisory Meeting held February 23–25, 2021. Canada is a signatory to the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, where Regulation A-4 of the Convention allows Canada to exempt ships from requirements to manage ballast water for up to five years, based on certain conditions. These include a scientifically robust risk assessment that can distinguish between unacceptable high risk scenarios and acceptable low risk scenarios with respect to Canada’s environment, human health, property and resources. A working paper was produced to review two existing risk assessment methods (Joint Harmonized Procedure and Same Risk Area) that assess the environmental requirements of ballast water management exemptions. The purpose of this virtual meeting was to peer review the working paper and provide recommendations on suitable risk assessment methods to assess exemptions from ballast water management in waters under Canadian jurisdiction.

The meeting participants concluded that both the Joint Harmonized Procedure and Same Risk Area are suitable risk assessments, but that each method should be conducted following the recommended modifications and minimum requirements to address identified weaknesses.

Accessibility Notice

This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.

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