BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

After the Assembly’s decisions on the levy of annual contributions, the IOPC Fund issues an invoice
to each contributor. Unless otherwise decided by the Assembly, annual contributions are due on
1 February of the following year. The contributions are payable by the individual contributors
directly to the IOPC Fund. A State is not responsible for the contributions levied in that State,
unless it has voluntarily assumed such responsibility.
The level of contributions varies from one year to another, since the payments of compensation will
vary. In order to give an idea of the financial implications for contributors, the contributions that
were levied during the period 1979 - 1992 are shown in the following table. The table also shows
the amount that would have been paid by a person who received one million tonnes of contributing
oil every year (extreme right hand column).
Initial
Contributions
Annual
Contributions
Contribution
per Tonne
0.0026265
Contribution
for
1 milliorTonnes
6
2 626
1979 750 000 0.0008455 845
1980 10 000 000 0.0126100 12 610
1981 500 000 0.0005690. 569
1982 860 000 0.0010357 1 036
1983 24 106 000 0.0260786 26 079
1984 0 o.oOOOOOO 0
1985 1 500 000 0.0018306 1 831
1986 1 800 000 0.0023360 2 336
1987 1 200 000 0.0015347 1 535
1988 2 990 000 0.0037599 3 760
1989 4 800 000 0.0060256 6 026
1990 500 000 0.0005563 556
1991 26 700 000 0.0287013 28 701
1992 10 950 000 0.0116210 11 621
An important question is whether the contributors actually fulfil their obligation to pay contributions
to the IOPC Fund. When the Fund Convention was adopted in 1971, the concept of an international
fund was something new. There was no experience of the functioning of a system of this
kind. Fears were expressed that the Fund Secretariat would have difficulties in collecting the
money required for compensating victims. These fears have proved to be unjustified. Contributions
are generally paid on time, and there is only a negligible amount in arrears.
4 REVISION OF THE CIVIL LIABILITY CONVENTION AND THE FUND CONVENTION
4.1 1984 Protocols
A Diplomatic Conference, held in London in 1984, adopted two Protocols to amend the present Civil
Liability Convention and Fund Convention. The Protocols provide for higher limits of compensation
and a wider scope of application than the Conventions in their original versions.
4.2 1992 Dlplomatlc Conference and the 1992 Protocols
In 1991, it was established that it was unlikely that the 1984 Protocols would enter into force, The
IOPC Fund examined the future development of the inter-governmental oil pollution liability and
compensation system based on the Civil Liability Convention and the Fund Convention. As a result
of this an International Conference was held in November 1992 under the auspices of IMO which
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