pollutants in the open ocean.'!® Further concern is 
being shown for the chronic and slowly rising levels 
of contaminants in the open ocean and the potential 
irreversible damage to the marine environment if the 
worldwide trend continues. An effective global moni- 
toring program will depend upon coordinated na- 
tional efforts, standardization of procedures, and free 
information and data exchange. This goal has not 
yet been achieved in the U.S. environmental pro- 
gram. 
International Activities 
During the past two decades, the level of attention 
directed toward problems of international marine 
pollution has risen sharply. In June 1969, eight 
North Sea countries signed the Bonn Agreement of 
1969, which required member states to promptly 
inform other member states when they became 
“aware of a casualty or the presence of oil slicks 
in the North Sea area likely to pose a serious threat 
to the coast or related interests of any other Con- 
tracting Party.” In June 1970, Canada enacted the 
Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, which estab- 
blished controls over the depositing of wastes into 
the zone of arctic waters that extend 100 nautical 
miles north of Canada’s shore. The Canadians have 
not claimed sovereignty over this area, but only the 
right to regulate pollution.'* In October 1971, 11 
governments established a regional convention for 
the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping 
from Ships and Aircraft, known as the Oslo Conven- 
tion of 1971. It pledges the contracting states “to 
take all possible steps to prevent pollution of the 
sea by substances that are liable to create hazards to 
human health, to harm living resources and marine 
life, to damage amenities or to inteutere with other 
legitimate uses of the sea.” 17 
In May 1972, the United States and USSR signed 
a bilateral agreement that established a Soviet- 
American Joint Committee on Cooperation in the 
Field of Environmental Protection.’* In a related 
move, the United States and USSR joined 30 other 
nations in a worldwide program related to studies of 
ocean pollution that have been conducted during the 
1970s under the auspices of the International Decade 
of Ocean Exploration (IDOE).'® 
The following organizations within the United 
Nations system have responsibilities related to vari- 
ous aspects of marine pollution: 
Engineering Committee on Oceanic Re- 
sources (ECOR), 
“U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Stand- 
ards. Marine Pollution Monitoring (Petroleum). Proceedings of 
Symposium Sponsored by IOC-UNESCO, WMO, and the De- 
partment of Commerce, NBS Publ. 409. Washington, D.C., 
Government Printing Office, 1974. 
® Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine 
Pollution (GESAMP). Reports and Studies No. 1. Report of the 
Seventh Session. London, 1975. 
* U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Commerce. Effects of 
Activities on the Marine Environment. 94th Cong. 2d sess. 
Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1975, py sl: 
aU bidsmpwes2: 
*Ibid., p. 33. 
I bid-apis 5: 
of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 
Food and _ Agriculture 
(FAO), 
Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative 
Organization (IMCO) and its Marine 
Environmental Protection Committee 
(MEPC), 
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Com- 
mission (IOC), 
Organization 
International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA), 
International Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development, 
International Labor Organization (ILO), 
Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD), 
UN Development Program (UNDP), 
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Organization (UNESCO), 
UN Environmental Program (UNEP), 
UN General Assembly and the Economic 
and Social Council, 
UN Institute for Training and Research 
(UNITAR), 
UN Joint Group of Experts on the Sci- 
entific Aspects of Marine Pollution 
(GESAMP), 
UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of 
Atomic Radiation, 
World Health Organization (WHO), and 
World Meteorological Organization 
(WMO) 
Five regional and international agreements fare 
been concluded that relate to marine pollution by 
radioactive materials. Two now in force prohibit the 
dumping of high-level radioactive waste at sea and 
establish guidelines for the disposal of other types of 
radioactive material. They name the International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as the agency re- 
sponsible for defining high-level waste and develop- 
ing recommendations for the at-sea disposal of other 
radioactive material. The IAEA’s recommendations 
are followed by the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency, 
which supervises the only active at-sea disposal pro- 
gram for radioactive wastes. 
The International Convention for the Prevention 
1954, as amended, 
is the only convention now in force that is directly 
related to the prevention of marine pollution from 
shipping. Amendments to the Convention, adopted 
in 1969, entered into force on January 20, 1978. 
VI-6 
