Bonn Agreement

The Bonn Agreement is the regional cooperation mechanism among North Sea states for surveillance, preparedness, and joint response to oil and other harmful-substance pollution. Signed in 1969 after the Torrey Canyon wreck and replaced by a broader 1983 text, its parties are Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, and the European Union. It runs coordinated aerial surveillance to detect operational and illegal discharges, supports MARPOL enforcement in the North Sea special area, and provides mutual assistance with cost-reimbursement rules. The 1989 amendment adding aerial surveillance entered force on 1 April 1994.