INTERPORTPOLICE assists IMO develop drugs guidelines – 1 October 2026
As an Organization in Consultative Status with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), INTERPORTPOLICE participates actively in IMO meetings.
INTERPORTPOLICE is currently participating in a correspondence group of the IMO Facilitation Committee (FAL). The group has been tasked with updating the IMO “Guidelines for the prevention and suppression of the smuggling of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals on ships engaged in international maritime traffic”. The group met for its third formal meeting online on 1 October to review the progress made in the revised draft and to identify ways forward. The completed draft will be presented to FAL 51 in April 2027.
In 2024, along with Dominica, BIMCO, InterManager and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), INTERPORTPOLICE co-sponsored a proposal to FAL 48 to revise the IMO guidelines for the prevention and suppression of the smuggling of drugs on ships.
This proposal built on the work done by INTERPORTPOLICE and others at the “Symposium on Drug Smuggling in Ships: Fostering Law Enforcement/Trade Collaboration” held at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston headquarters in Houston, Texas, in January 2024. BIMCO, InterManager, World Shipping Council, INTERPORTPOLICE, the Northeast Maritime Institute, and its Center for Ocean Policy and Economics (COPE) organized the event, which the United States Coast Guard hosted. The outcomes of the symposium were also reported to FAL 48.
