The conventions developed by these organizations are, in effect, statements of
objectives that are acceptable to a majority of the states that have convened to
discuss them. However, a state is not bound by the terms of a convention until it
has itself ratified it and ratification has been secured from a defined proportion of
the participants—usually two-thirds. Once a state has ratified a convention, and
the convention has itself become effective because it has secured the prescribed
number of ratifications or acceptances, all ratifying states have an obligation to
enact the necessary national legislation to give the convention effect. The convention,
when enacted in national law, provides the regime of constraint within which
shipowners are required to operate. The following sections review the basic
conventions on safety, pollution, conditions of seafarers’ employment, and the
UNCTAD Code of Conduct for Liner Companies.