©IMO 

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) made a historic decision in October, 2016, to dramatically reduce the global sulfur limit of marine fuels from the current 3.5% to 0.5%, starting in 2020. The new global cap will supplement China's Domestic Emission Control Area (DECA) regulation and remove any risk that other Asian ports with looser regulations might have an unfair competitive advantage over Chinese ports. In order to support authorities to enforce the DECA regulation and the new global sulfur limit, NRDC released a report summarizing international best practices of implementing marine fuel regulations. The report has been well received by regulators in China and abroad, including an expert group from 13 EU countries, US, Canada, Russia, and Mexico.