위험ㆍ유해물질의 책임협약(HNS협약) 및 개정의정서의 주요문제에 관한 연구

A Study on the Major Issues of the 1996 HNS Convention and 2010 Protocol

The International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996 (HNS Convention) aims to ensure adequate, prompt and effective compensation for damage to persons and property, costs of clean up and reinstatement measures and economic losses resulting from the maritime transport of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS). The HNS Convention was adopted by an International Conference organised by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London in May 1996 and is based on the highly successful model of the Civil Liability and Fund Conventions which cover pollution damage caused by spills of persistent oil from tankers. As with the original oil pollution compensation regime, the HNS Convention will establish a two-tier system for compensation to be paid in the event of accidents at sea, in this case, involving hazardous and noxious substances, such as chemicals. By 2009, the HNS Convention had still not entered into force, due to an insufficient number of ratifications. A second International Conference, held in April 2010, adopted a Protocol to the HNS Convention (2010 HNS Protocol), that was designed to address practical problems that had prevented many States from ratifying the original Convention. The 2010 HNS Protocol will enter into force 18 months after the date on which it is ratified by at least twelve States, including four States each with not less than 2 million units of gross tonnage, and having received during the preceding calendar year a total quantity of at least 40 million tonnes of cargo that would be contributing to the general account. Once the 2010 HNS Protocol enters into force, the 1996 Convention, as amended by the 2010 Protocol, will be called: “the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 2010”.