Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the UK has plans to be a signatory to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.

The UK is a strong supporter of action to improve the international standards for ship recycling.

The Hong Kong Convention is not expected to enter into force internationally in the near term, so the UK alongside other states, has implemented a Europe wide regime that seeks to immediately improve standards in ship recycling.

The EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU) No 1257/2013 – which will be retained in UK law after we leave the EU – entered into force on 1 January 2019. It establishes a list of acceptable yards for ship recycling, and creates controls on ships flagged to, or calling at, the UK that are intended for recycling.

The deadline for States to become a signatory to the Hong Kong Convention passed in August 2010. The Government’s current focus is on the effective implementation of the European Ship Recycling regime, but we will shortly turn to the implementation of the Convention, with a target of ratification in the next five years as set out in our strategy, ‘Maritime 2050: navigating the future’.