Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to shipping companies operating in the Irish Sea of compliance with Annex IV of the International Maritime Organisation Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships from 1 January 2020.

No specific estimate of the impact of Annex IV on shipping companies operating in the Irish Sea from 1 January 2020 has been made. The UK implementation of Annex IV included an impact assessment which considered costs to the UK fleet.

Annex IV of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships addresses sewage discharge from vessels and is universally applicable to internationally trading ships including those operating in the Irish Sea. The current Annex entered into force in 2008. No changes to the current regime are planned for 1 Jan 2020.