Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2019 to Question 223798 on International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, what progress his Department has made on compliance with the Ballast Water Management Convention in order to accede to the Convention in Autumn 2019.

Good progress is being made on the development of UK regulations in order to accede to the Ballast Water Management Convention. This work was rescheduled in order to ensure that the legislation reflects the newest amendments to the Convention which were accepted by the International Maritime Organization in April 2019.

We are committed to completing the regulations and acceding to the Convention in 2020.