News / MEPC 80: China proposes plan to allow emissions data to be altered

© Paulus Rusyanto |

China has called on the IMO to allow authorities to retroactively change emissions data already submitted.

China’s IMO submission, MEPC 80/6/4, takes aim at the IMO’s fuel consumption database, Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS), and calls upon the MEPC committee to allow the modification of already-submitted figures.

China claimed: “…data can only be entered manually in the user interface … which could lead to errors, and slow network speed often results in repeated submission; however, the module has no modification function to correct data entry errors or repeated submissions.”

By way of a solution, China suggests “…it is recommended to allow the competent authority or its recognised organisation to modify the data entered … before June 30 of each calendar year… to avoid input errors.”

If passed, the law would allow Chinese authorities to retroactively modify fuel consumption data. Asked whether this could potentially open up a new loophole for fudging the numbers, one source familiar with the matter said: “Could China get [this] through on their own? No.

“IMO takes consensus decisions so there would need to be significant support from other delegations. And IMO decisions are sometimes a changed version of an original proposal, to reflect discussion and debate if the core proposal is not rejected but also not accepted unchanged.

“Could the proposal potentially allow data to be doctored in future? Yes, without appropriate checks and balances then arguably, inappropriate changes could be made. But it would also remove some administrative barriers to making appropriate changes.”

An IMO spokesperson said that the secretariat would continue to upgrade the module, “with a view to preparing the IMO DCS module for future GHG regulations, also dependent on future resources,” and “take into consideration” China’s comments.

It was clear as early as last week that China was not on board with many of the proposals under consideration at MEPC 80, following the circulation of a memo, highly critical of the proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) levy, which became the source of some controversy.

Calling the proposed measures “overly ambitious”, China said the emissions reduction targets would “seriously impede the sustainable development of international shipping, significantly increase the cost of the supply chain and will adversely impede the recovery of the global economy”.

Other topics of discussion included the Russian bombing of Ukraine’s Khakovka Dam, which the MEPC 80’s Russian delegation maintained was a Ukrainian false-flag operation.