1998 Year of the Ocean A Survey of International Agreements 



INTRODUCTION 



The legal regime governing the use of the ocean is based on a network of important 

 international agreements. The following is a compendium of some of those agreements and 

 programs relating to the ocean with a brief description of each. The list is selective and is 

 designed to illustrate the major ocean agreements relating to the environment, fisheries, 

 transportation, and the polar regions. The United States is either a party to each agreement or in 

 the process of ratification. The list is indicative, but not comprehensive. 



THE LAW OF THE SEA 



United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 

 Senate Treaty Doc. 103-39, Oct. 6, 1994 



The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea, with Annexes done at 

 Montego Bay, December 10, 1982 (the Convention) and the Agreement Relating to the 

 Implementation of Part XI of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 

 adopted and opened for signature at the United Nations in New York, July 28, 1994 (the 

 Agreement) provide a comprehensive framework that sets forth the rights and obligations of 

 States with respect to the uses of the ocean. Its provisions would guarantee United States' control 

 of economic activities off its coasts, such as fishing and oil and gas development, and enhance 

 the United States' ability to protect the marine environment. At the same time, it preserves and 

 reinforces the freedoms of navigation and overflight essential to national strategic and 

 commercial interests. 



The Convention authorizes a territorial sea of up to 12 nautical miles and Coastal State 

 sovereign rights over fisheries and other natural resources in an Exclusive Economic Zone that 

 may extend to 200 nautical miles from the baseline. The Convention further accords Coastal 

 States sovereign rights over the nonliving resources, including oil and gas, found in the seabed 

 and subsoil of the continental shelf, which is defined to extend to 200 nautical miles from the 

 baseline or, where the continental margin extends beyond that limit, to the outer edge of the 

 geological continental margin. The Convention preserves the rights of navigation and overflight 

 in areas under Coastal State jurisdiction and on the high seas beyond. 



The 1994 Agreement fundamentally changed the provisions of Part XI of the Convenfion 

 that establish a system for regulating the mining of mineral resources from the deep seabed 

 beyond national jurisdiction. Part XI was renegotiated to remove the obstacles to the acceptance 

 of the Convention that had prevented the United States and other industrialized countries from 

 becoming parties. The United States signed the Agreement and has submitted the Law of the Sea 

 Convention and the Agreement together as a package to the Senate for advice and consent. The 

 entry into force of a widely accepted and comprehensive law of the sea convention has been a 

 consistent objective of the United States since negotiations began on such a convention over two 

 decades ago. The Convention entered into force in 1994 and over 120 States are parties including 



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