To support these committees IMO has

To support these committees IMO has a secretariat of nearly 300 civil servants
located in London. Although in the early days the emphasis was on drafting
conventions, since the early 1980s the focus has changed. By that date IMO had
developed a comprehensive series of measures covering safety, pollution prevention,
liability and compensation. It was recognized that legislation is of little value
unless it is enforced so, in 1981, the Assembly adopted resolution A500(XII)
which redirected activity towards the effective implementation of the conventions.
This resolution was reaffirmed for the 1990s and ‘implementation’ has become
the major objective of IMO.16 To promote the task the MSC established the
subcommittee on Flag State implementation.
The coverage of the conventions are briefly described in the following
paragraphs.