At the IBF meeting in Tokyo on 3 - 7 October 2005 it was agreed that three ad hoc working groups should be formed to deal with issues raised, but not finalised, during the negotiations.

These include the implications of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention on IBF contracts and a number of issues related to ITF policies and union membership fees and benefits.

These issues raise important and sensitive questions that are unlikely to be resolved quickly or easily. Nevertheless, it was agreed that the joint working groups should meet to discuss the problems and to see whether it might be possible to make recommendations back to the IBF as to how they might be progressed further.