UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS OCEANS AND FISHERIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 USUN NEW YORK 001224

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR OES CONSTANCE ARVIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: UNGA PHSA PREL PREF PREM
SUBJECT: UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS OCEANS AND FISHERIES
RESOLUTIONS


1. (U) SUMMARY: The General Assembly adopted without a vote
the draft resolution on Sustainable Fisheries (A/62/L.24) on
December 18 and the draft resolution on Oceans and the Law of
the Sea (A/62/L.27) with a vote (146-2-3) on December 22.
The majority of delegations emphasized the significance of
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea for its role as an
almost universally accepted framework for the management of
the world's ocean resources. Many delegations praised the
atmospherics of this year's negotiations and extended special
thanks to Brazil (Oceans resolution) and the United States
(Sustainable Fisheries) for their efforts as coordinators.
Many delegations stressed the importance of the Commission on
the Limits of the Continental Shelf and the need for
additional budgetary resources to strengthen the Commission's
capacity to consider the increasing number of submissions by
States before the 2009 deadline. Singapore and Australia
continued to debate the legality of Australia's compulsory
pilotage requirements in the Torres Strait. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) The General Assembly considered agenda items 77 (a)
and (b) (Oceans and the Law of the Sea and Sustainable
Fisheries) on December 10, 18 and 22 and adopted without a
vote the draft resolution on Sustainable Fisheries
(A/62/L.24) on December 18 and adopted the draft resolution
on Oceans and Law of the Sea (A/62/L.27) with a vote
(146-2-3) on December 22.


3. (U) Thirty four delegations delivered statements to the
General Assembly: Brazil; the United States; Portugal (on
behalf of the European Union); Jamaica (on behalf of
CARICOM); Tonga (on behalf of the Pacific Island Forum);
Vietnam; Egypt; Tunisia; Cuba; Namibia; China; Monaco; India;
Norway; Guatemala; Kenya; Australia; the Marshall Islands;
Mexico; Iceland; Venezuela; Singapore; Indonesia; Malaysia;
Canada; Kuwait; Japan; Palau; New Zealand; Russia;
Philippines; the Republic of Korea; Sri Lanka; and Nigeria.
Four observer organizations also addressed the General
Assembly: the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea;
the International Seabed Authority; the Asia-African Legal
Consultative Organization; and the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. USUN
Public Delegate Kelly Knight delivered the U.S. statement on
the draft resolutions and introduced the draft resolution on
Sustainable Fisheries.


4. (U) During the discussion of both resolutions, many
delegations emphasized the significance of the UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea for its role in maintaining peace and
security and providing an almost universally accepted
framework for the management of the world's oceans over the
past 25 years. During the debate, delegations highlighted
familiar issues concerning fisheries management and oceans
issues. As to this year's negotiations, most delegations

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praised the Brazilian and U.S. coordinators for their efforts
to facilitate agreement on a wide range of substantive
issues.


5. (U) Introducing the resolution on Oceans and the Law of
the Sea, Brazil underscored discussions on strengthening the
capacity of the Division on Ocean Affairs and the Law of the
Sea (DOALOS) in its role as the secretariat for the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS);
concerns about the impact of climate change on the marine
environment (a particular concern of Small Island Developing
States); capacity building activities to strengthen
developing countries' maritime administration and legal
framework; and discussions on the legal treatment of marine
genetic resources beyond national jurisdictions, which States
agreed to continue during the Ad Hoc Informal Working Group
next spring.

Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)
-------------- --------------


6. (U) Several delegations stressed the urgency of
strengthening the capacity of DOALOS to consider submissions
for review by the CLCS. Malaysia said that DOALOS, in its
role as the CLCS secretariat, required more human resources
and modern computer software and equipment to improve the
efficency of its work and expressed hope that the extra
budgetary resources to fill this gap would be approved by the
Fifth Committee. Jamaica also emphasized the need to improve
CLCS working methods in order to meet the 2009 deadline for
submissions by coastal States. Tonga noted improvements in
the procedure for accessing the UN Trust Fund to assist
States in the preparation of their submissions. China said
the process of submissions was complex, especially for
developing states and called for a postponement of the
"artificially set" 2009 deadline in the Convention. China
argued that "speeding up" the submission process to meet the
deadline could adversely impact the quality of submissions.


7. (U) Japan highlighted its 205,000 dollar contribution to
the CLCS voluntary Trust Fund. As to the efficiency of the
CLCS, Japan said it believed that improvements should be made
within existing budget resources and regretted the program
budget implications attached to the resolution. (NOTE:
Operative paragraphs 46 and 47 of the Oceans resolution
called for strengthening the capacity of the Division for
Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. The cost of the
capacity building measures totaled 1.96 million dollars. The
Fifth Committee approved the PBI, which would represent a
charge against the Contingency Fund. END NOTE.)

Freedom of Navigation and Maritime Security
--------------

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8. (U) Australia and Singapore continued to spar over the
legality of Australia's compulsory pilotage requirements for
vessels transiting the Torres Strait. Singapore argued that
Australia's pilotage requirements contravene article 42 of
the Convention and did not have the approval of the
International Maritime Organization (IMO),as Australia has
claimed. Singapore said the IMO resolution, often cited by
Australia, was a recommendation, not a binding declaration or
interpretation of the Law of the Sea Convention. Singapore
added that 31 countries reaffirmed the recommendatory nature
of the IMO resolution at the recent IMO Assembly meeting in
London; only three countries spoke in opposition of this
interpretation. Despite differences, Singapore remained open
to negotiations with Australia and regretted that Australia
had not taken steps to resolve the debate amicably.


9. (U) Exercising the right of reply, Australia said its
compulsory pilotage requirements were necessary to ensure
safety of navigation and transit passage in accordance with
paragraph 72 of the Convention. The pilotage program,
Australia stressed, protected the sensitive waters of the
strait and minimized the risk of vessels running aground;
making passage safer for vessels and the environment.
Australia expressed regret that the issue continues to be
raised and remained convinced of the program's necessity. In
its right of reply, Singapore again rejected Australia's
interpretation and said it remained committed to negotiating
a solution that would not undermine the Convention.


10. (U) Several delegations, including Sri Lanka and
Nigeria, underscored the importance of the right of transit
passage enshrined in the convention, without directly
referring to the Torres Strait. Japan mentioned compulsory
pilotage as practice that should be avoided.


11. (U) As to maritime security, many delegations
highlighted their concern about the rising frequency of
piracy and armed robbery. Delegations welcomed the decision
to discuss maritime security during the 2008 Informal
Consultative Process.

Fisheries
--------------


12. (U) Many delegations expressed concern about the
sustainability of world fish stocks and commended the
progress made on Regional Fisheries Management Organizations
and efforts to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated
(IUU) fishing. Although many new commitments had been agreed
to, Canada stressed that success would depend on the degree
to which States take concrete action to implement measures to
improve fisheries management. Many delegations noted the

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damage IUU fishing was doing to fish stocks and the marine
environment and called on flag States to improve monitoring
of vessels engaged in IUU fishing and port States to do more
to prevent IUU fishing products from entering the market.


13. (U) Palau encouraged RFMOs and flag States to ban bottom
trawling fishing, which damaged fish stocks and the marine
environment. Palau noted that the South Pacific Regional
Fisheries Management Organization had already banned the
practice. The strength of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement was
also gaining more momentum from increased membership,
according to Iceland and other delegations that noted the
recent ratifications of Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, the
Czech Republic and Romania.

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)
-------------- --------------


14. (U) ITLOS received praise from many delegations for the
efficiency of its dispute resolution proceedings. Japan
commended ITLOS's intervention in two cases concerning the
release of vessels and crews and pledged future support to
ITLOS. India underscored its hope that during the next
States Parties meeting agreement could be reached on a joint
proposal by the Asian and Africa groups concerning the
allocation of seats in ITLOS and CLCS in accordance with the
principle of equitable geographic representation.

Explanations of Vote
--------------


15. (U) Venezuela explained its vote before the adoption of
the Fisheries resolution by noting that Venezuela's national
fisheries legislation was modeled after the sustainable
fisheries agreement, and although Venezuela was not a party
to the agreement, it would not interfere with consensus.
After the adoption of the resolution Argentina registered its
view that the recommendations contained in the fisheries
resolution could not be interpreted as binding provisions on
States which have not expressly consented to being bound by
the recommendations. Turkey said it disassociated itself
with the international instruments referred to in the
resolution to which Turkey was not a party.


16. (U) The General Assembly adopted the Oceans resolution
by a recorded vote of 146 in favor, 2 against (Benin,
Turkey),and 3 abstentions (Colombia, Libya, Venezuela).
Venezuela, making an explanation of vote before the vote,
said that the text before the assembly did not reflect
consensus. Benin, Japan, Pakistan and Turkey made
explanations of vote after the vote. Pakistan, speaking on
behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China,
said the Group had made a concrete proposal on the

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resolution's sections X and XIV, which related to the issue
of marine biodiversity and the Informal Consultative Process.
The Group's position had been carefully reflected in the
proposal, although an agreement had not been reached on it.
For the sake of compromise, Pakistan said the Group had
accepted the joint proposal made by Pakistan and the United
States, which for the first time, acknowledged problems
related to the legal regime beyond the exclusive economic
zone and addressed issues related to capacity-building and
goods and services derived from marine genetic resources.
Pakistan also left the door open for future consultations on
those issues. Because of the need to ensure better
reflection on those issues and others related to intellectual
property rights, the Group of 77 remained committed to
efforts to elaborate its position in the future.


17. (U) Turkey said it voted against the text since the
reason that had kept Turkey from joining the Convention
remained valid. Japan said that it supported the text.
However, while Japan agreed with other States parties on the
need to strengthen the function of the Secretariat of the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, it
believed that such efforts should be made within existing
budget levels, as well as within the limit approved in
accordance with the established request process. Benin added
that it was in favor of the resolution.
Khalilzad