IMO Terminology

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What is the difference between the use of ‘encourages’ and ‘recommends’ in IMO resolutions?

For example, in MSC.428(98), THE MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE:

ENCOURAGES administrations to ensure that cyber risks are appropriately addressed …

Whereas, in MSC.431(98):

RECOMMENDS Governments to ensure that …

Response from IMO: I am unable to find any specific written guidance on this particular issue, but, having consulted with our colleagues in the Legal Affairs Office, I would echo their opinion that the choice of operative verb, e.g. “encourages”, “recommends”, “requests”, depends on how strong the operative paragraph is intended to be: “encourages” is not as strong as “recommends”, and “requests” is stronger than “recommends”. Perhaps that is the case with the particular resolutions referred to.