The Legal Committee (LEG) met in person for its 111th session at IMO Headquarters in London (with hybrid participation) from 22 to 26 April 2024. The Committee approved the revision of the Guidelines for accepting insurance companies, financial security providers and the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Associations (P & I Clubs). The updated Guidelines will be issued via a LEG circular. 

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide State Parties to conventions covering liability issues with guidance for accepting insurance companies and certificates or similar documentation from insurance companies, financial security providers, International Group (IG) P&I Clubs and P&I Clubs outside the IG. Relevant conventions include: 

• the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992, as amended (1992 Civil Liability Convention); 
• the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 (2001 Bunkers Convention); 
• the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007 (2007 Nairobi WRC); and  
• the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 to the Convention (the 2010 HNS Convention). 

The revised Guidelines include a list of definitions and a new section on ‘Criteria for accepting Insurance Certificates’. The criteria and documentation for accepting insurers and insurance certificates have also been modified and expanded