The Enforcement of Marine Pollution Regulations

The achievement of effective control over marine pollution depends upon agreement both on adequate anti-pollution regulations in matters such as hull design, manning requirements and permissible discharge rates, as well as agreement on an effective enforcement procedure. A major area of disagreement concerns the body which should be responsible for prescribing the appropriate standards — the alternatives being basically either individually, by coastal States, or an international agency. This article will review the present position under customary international law and under the conventions dealing with pollution, and then examine the three main trends which appeared during the 1974 United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.