NOWPAP MERRAC Meetings, South Korea

Duarte Soares attended the 22nd NOWPAP MERRAC Focal Points Meeting, incorporating the 14th Competent National Authorities Meeting for the NOWPAP Regional Oil and HNS Spill Contingency Plan and the 2019 MERRAC Brainstorming Workshop, which ran from 27th-30th August in Seoul, Republic of Korea.  NOWPAP is the Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region and MERRAC (the Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre) is one of its four Regional Activity Centres (RACs). The meetings were attended by 25 participants, including representatives from the four NOWPAP countries:  Korea, China, Japan, and Russia, and provided a good opportunity to share experiences of recent spills in the region. At the meeting, the countries agreed to enhance their cooperation by identifying new areas of work for MERRAC, such as monitoring  illegal discharges and developing additional response manuals for managing spills involving hazardous and noxious substances (HNS), such as gasoline or liquefied gas. 

Category: Training & Education