The IMO Assembly, which meets once every two years, adopts the Strategic Plan (covering a six-year period) and High-level Action Plan (covering the next biennium) for the Organization.
The Strategic Plan contains key strategic directions enabling IMO to achieve its mission objectives.
The mission statement of IMO is:
"The mission of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as a United Nations
specialized agency, is to promote safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and
sustainable shipping through cooperation. This will be accomplished by adopting the highest
practicable standards of maritime safety and security, efficiency of navigation and prevention
and control of pollution from ships, as well as through consideration of the related legal matters
and effective implementation of IMO instruments, with a view to their universal and uniform
application."
The High-level Action Plan has been developed to enable the Organization to effectively address those strategic directions by identifying high-level actions that are necessary for the achievement of IMO's objectives and the priorities over a biennium resulting from those identified actions, thereby providing the linkage between the Organization's strategy, the work of the various IMO organs and the biennial budget,
The application of the Strategic Plan and the High-level Action Plan (Resolution A.1099(29)) was adopted in order to ensure uniform implementation of the Strategic and High-level Action Plans of the Organization by all its organs.
The introduction to the application of the Strategic Plan and the High-level Action Plan highlights the key elements of the DAP with a view to facilitate its implementation.
The introduction to the guidelines on the organization and method of work of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) and the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) and their subsidiary bodies highlights the key elements of these Guidelines (MSC-MEPC.1/Circ.5).