Through its dedicated Accredited Representative to the IMO, who is supported by representatives from IACS Members – world-leading technical experts in the matters under consideration – IACS submits papers to, and actively participates in, all the meetings of the IMO’s technical bodies. These experts not only contribute technical input to the development of new IMO requirements, and amendments to existing ones; they also provide an unparalleled degree of insight and feedback on the implementation of the IMO agreed regulatory framework. This is because IACS Members are not only classification societies, they also act as recognised organisations (ROs). In this latter capacity, they act on behalf of IMO Member States to verify compliance with IMO’s statutory regulations and requirements on ships that fly the flag of those countries.
The strategy of IACS towards the IMO is to effectively respond to technical and societal developments in the global maritime sector in a way commensurate to IACS’ standing in the shipping world, within the remit of classification, and within its role as the IMO’s apolitical principal technical adviser. IACS actively engages in the work at the IMO both proactively and reactively (that is, both to the proposals from Member States/NGOs and to the challenges of implementation) guided by the priorities of IACS strategy, by resourcing the pre-session work and all necessary participation at the IMO meetings with the best expertise available to IACS Members.