Deferral of Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010

That the Parliament notes with serious concern the UK Government’s decision to defer the entry into force of the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010 from 1 October 2010 to 1 April 2011; considers that there is opposition to all ship-to-ship transfers of oil in the Forth Estuary on an all-party basis by Fife Council, by business leaders, environmental organisations and community groups; considers that an unacceptably short space of time was allocated for the consultation period on the amendments to the regulations; believes that it was unfortunate that the consultation document was not circulated to MSPs when they represented the concerns of their local environmental and community groups and persuaded the Scottish Government to introduce environmental regulations to try to safeguard the Forth Estuary from possible pollution from ship-to-ship transfers, and supports calls for the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010 to be introduced on 1 October 2010 as planned.