On 13 March 2000, IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted an amendment to MARPOL that added a new regulation 16 to Annex II. The new provision requires that, from 1 January 2003, a ship that is certified for the carriage of a noxious liquid substance (NLS) in bulk must carry on board a contingency plan for the procedures to be followed in the event of a spill or a probable spill of NLS, including procedures for notifying the coastal state in whose waters the spill occurs. This plan is called a Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plan for Noxious Liquid Substances.

This Annex II requirement is, in principle, the same as that of regulation 26 of MARPOL Annex I, which already requires all ships carrying oil in bulk, either as cargo or bunkers, to have a contingency plan, sometimes referred to as a SOPEP, describing procedures to be followed in the event of an oil spill.

Because of the similarity between the two requirements, IMO recognised that ships certified for NLS but also carrying oil either as cargo or bunkers would need to have both plans on board, and agreed that the two could be combined into a single plan called simply a Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plan (SMPEP). 

When IMO created the requirements for the SMPEP, it was felt appropriate to incorporate some of the additional measures into the requirements for new Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plans. Therefore, a new model for a SOPEP has also been created, although any ship that already has a SOPEP which has been approved by its administration need not revise that plan. In effect, therefore, only new SOPEPs, probably for new ships or perhaps where a change of owner or registration has occurred, will be required to incorporate the new measures.

The intention behind ICS developing the model SMPEP is to assist owners and operators in preparing plans for ships in their fleets. At the same time, it is hoped that the widespread adoption of an agreed format will encourage and simplify approval of the plans by administrations and recognised organisations.

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