China – Cancellation of SPROs Approval by MSA and Qianhe issue 21 April 2015 No.726 Download PDF (207KB) 1. Cancellation of SPROs Approval by MSA In accordance with the Regulation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Ships (“the Regulations”), shipowners/operators of certain ships are required to enter into a pollution clean-up contract with a Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) approved ship pollution response organizations (SPROs) before the ship enters a PRC port. The MSA currently has evaluated qualification of SPROs, given an approval to SPRO who found to meet the certain requirements and issued a certificate (a Ship Pollution Response Unit Qualification Certificate) showing that it has been approved by the MSA for clean-up response. The Ministry of Transport of PRC (MOT), however, issued a notice on cancellation of quality assessment and certification of SPROs.  Once this notice becomes effective, the MSA will no longer approve SPROs nor issue a certificate to an approved SPRO.  However, this does not mean that the requirements for SPROs contracts will no longer be needed.  Shipowners/operators are still required to enter into a contract with a qualified SPRO, and it is now shipowners/operators’ responsibility to evaluate and ensure that the SPRO they contract with meets the requirements. The International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) is in dialogue with the MSA through the IG’s lawyer in Beijing about how shipowners/operators can assess the qualification of SPROs, and further developments will be provided as the information becomes available. 2. Qianhe issue The Club is aware that certain investigations are taking place into Qianhe, one of the major SPROs in China, by the customs authority in China.  The IG is closely monitoring the situation through the IG’s lawyer. As of today, Qianhe remains a qualified and approved SPRO and their status in this regard remains valid and has