Article 8 of the OPRC Convention calls on governments and IMO to play an active role in the promotion of Research and Development (R&D) relating to the enhancement of state-of-the-art of pollution preparedness and response through the exchange of information.
In this connection, IMO periodically organizes IMO R&D Forums on relevant and topical technical and scientific issues in order to enhance knowledge and promote best practices in pollution preparedness and response.
To date, there have been four IMO R&D Forums organized:
- The first and second International R&D Forums on oil spill response issues were held in McLean, Virginia (USA, 1992) and London (United Kingdom, 1995).
- The third R&D Forum on High Density Oil Spill Response was held in
Brest (France, 2002).
- The fourth R&D Forum on Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) in the Marine Environment was organized in conjunction with Interspill 2009, held in Marseille (France, 2009).