HELSINKI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission's two-day annual meeting ended in Helsinki Thursday with an agreement among the member states to double efforts to create an effective program of actions for the Baltic Sea Action Plan.

    The ambitious Baltic Sea Action Plan, which is currently being designed by the Baltic Sea coastal countries to dramatically reduce pollution and restore the good ecological status of the Baltic Sea, was the topmost issue on the agenda of this years' Commission Meeting.

    Representatives of the Baltic Sea coastal countries reviewed the initial outline of the plan, and in particular, looked into actions for the Baltic Sea Action Plan. The representatives emphasized that more concrete programs and measures should be elaborated for the final version of the action plan.

    "We now need to strong political commitment to agree on purposeful and wide-ranging actions in order to achieve within a given timeframe the agreed goal of a Baltic Sea unaffected by eutrophication, undisturbed by hazardous substances, with favorable biodiversity and environmentally friendly maritime activities," said HELCOM's executive secretary Anne Christine Brusendorff.

    The commission agreed also that it is necessary to develop a mechanism for the implementation of the action plan, as well as to set up a clear timetable for the strategy.

    The commission, known as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution.