Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 28 July 2025 (HL9720) and following the completion of parliamentary scrutiny of the Cape Town Agreement in December 2025, whether they intend to finalise its ratification process by the 113th session of the International Maritime Organization Legal Committee in April 2026.

Following conclusion of Parliamentary scrutiny of the Cape Town Agreement of 2012 on the Implementation of the Provisions of the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993 relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels 1977 on 17 December 2025, it is the Government’s intention to deposit the UK’s Instrument of Ratification with the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) before the 113th session of the IMO Legal Committee on 13-17 April 2026.