International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships

Adoption: 5 October 2001; Entry into force: 17 September 2008

The Convention prohibits the use of harmful organotins in anti-fouling paints used on ships and establishes a mechanism to prevent the potential future use of other harmful substances in anti-fouling systems.

Anti-fouling paints are used to coat the bottoms of ships to prevent sealife such as algae and molluscs attaching themselves to the hull – thereby slowing down the ship and increasing fuel consumption.

In the early days of sailing ships, lime and later arsenic were used to coat ships' hulls, until the modern chemicals industry developed effective anti-fouling paints using metallic compounds. These compounds slowly "leach" into the sea water, killing barnacles and other marine life that have attached to the ship. But studies have shown that these compounds persist in the water, killing sea-life, harming the environment and possibly entering the food chain. One of the most effective anti-fouling paints, developed in the 1960s, contains the organotin tributyltin (TBT), which has been proven to cause deformations in oysters and sex changes in whelks.

Under the terms of the AFS Convention, Parties to the Convention are required to prohibit and/or restrict the use of harmful anti-fouling systems on ships flying their flag, as well as ships not entitled to fly their flag but which operate under their authority and all ships that enter a port, shipyard or offshore terminal of a Party.
 
Anti-fouling systems to be prohibited or controlled are listed in an annex to the Convention, which will be updated as and when necessary.
The Convention includes a clause which states that a ship shall be entitled to compensation if it is unduly detained or delayed while undergoing inspection for possible violations of the Convention.

 Annex I states that all ships shall not apply or re-apply organotins compounds which act as biocides in anti-fouling systems. This applies to all ships (including fixed and floating platforms, floating storage units (FSUs), and Floating Production Storage and Offtake units (FPSOs).

In 2021, the MEPC adopted amendments to include controls on the biocide cybutryne. The amendments enter into force on 1 January 2023. Ships shall not apply or re-apply anti-fouling systems containing this substance from 1 January 2023. Ships shall remove or apply a coating to AFS with this substance at the next scheduled renewal of the anti-fouling system after 1 January 2023, but no later than 60 months following the last application to the ship of an anti-fouling system containing cybutryne.

The Convention provides for the establishment of a “technical group”, to include people with relevant expertise, to review proposals for other substances used in anti-fouling systems to be prohibited or restricted. Article 6 on Process for Proposing Amendments to controls on Anti-fouling systems sets out how the evaluation of an anti-fouling system should be carried out.