Visit by the Director to the United States of America

The Director and the Legal Counsel attended the 13th Meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea held in New York, the United States of America from 29 May to 1 June.
They also visited the National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) in Virginia, which forms part of the US Coast Guard and administers the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF), which pays compensation for oil pollution damage under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90). The Director had a very fruitful meeting with the Deputy Director and other senior staff at NPFC. It was clear that both the IOPC Funds and the NPFC share similar challenges as to how to improve their respective regimes so that compensation is paid as soon as possible.