Drawing on the results of a low-sulphur fuel availability study required under the terms of the MARPOL Convention, the IMO is set to rule in October 2016 whether or not to make the 0.5% global cap on the sulphur content of marine fuel mandatory in 2020, or defer until 2025. Either way, the decision by the organisations Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) will have far-reaching implications for the shipping industry. The European Union has already agreed that the 0.5% limit will be imposed in 2020 within 200miles of member countries' coasts, irrespective of the impending IMO pronouncement. As observed by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS): "In theory, if the IMO global cap was postponed, this would create a narrow corridor along the coast of North Africa in which the use of cheaper fuel would still be acceptable, while elsewhere in the Mediterranean it would not, a situation which Member States at IMO might find difficult to accept."
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