A/HRC/12/26 page 16 Dismantling of Ships.19 Their primary objective is to provide guidance to countries that have or wish to establish shipbreaking facilities by providing information and recommendations on procedures, processes, and practices that should be implemented to attain ESM at such facilities. The Guidelines also provide advice on monitoring and verification of environmental performance. 45. The Guidelines, which are of a recommendatory nature, provide examples of good practices in environmental control procedures, which consist in the preparation of an inventory list of hazardous wastes and products on board (“Green Passport”) and their removal prior to the voyage for dismantling or, if this is not possible, prior to cutting. They also recommend the establishment of an Environmental Management Plan for shipbreaking facilities, which encompasses the assessment of the potential environmental impact of the facility, the formulation of potential preventive measures and the elaboration of an environmental management system which includes a waste management plan, a contingency preparedness plan and a monitoring plan. 2. International Maritime Organization 46. Since its establishment, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has supported the adoption of a comprehensive body of international conventions and recommendations governing every facet of shipping, including a number of treaties relating to oil pollution, pollution from ships, civil liability and compensation for oil pollution damage, and emergency preparedness. Two IMO conventions, while not dealing directly with the issue of shipbreaking, contain principles that are applicable in case of marine pollution caused by the disposal of wastes at sea: the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (usually referred to as the “London Convention”) and its 1996 Protocol, and the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78). 47. The primary function of the London Convention is to prevent the pollution of the sea by the dumping of waste and other matter that is liable, inter alia, to create hazards to human health or to harm living resources and marine life (art. I). The Convention prohibits the dumping of certain hazardous materials listed in annex I, requires a prior special permit for the dumping of a number of other identified materials listed in annex II and a prior general permit for the dumping of all other wastes or matter (art. IV.1). The 1996 London Protocol, which entered into force in 2006, is intended to modernize the Convention and, eventually, replace it. The Protocol follows a more restrictive approach than the Convention, since it prohibits the dumping of any wastes or other matter with the exception of those listed in annex I (art. 4). Theoretically, these legal instruments would prohibit the deliberate disposal of hazardous wastes present on end-of-life ships into the marine environment, but their applicability to wastes from decommissioned ships is debated. 19 Decision VI/24 of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention. See UNEP/CHW.9/40, annex.