Law of The Sea
Law of The Sea
Law of The Sea
" SENATE !
1st Session 110–9
REPORT
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose ........................................................................................................... 2
II. Background .................................................................................................... 2
III. Major Provisions ............................................................................................ 3
IV. Entry Into Force and Denunciation ............................................................. 8
V. Implementing Legislation ............................................................................. 8
VI. Committee Action .......................................................................................... 8
VII. Committee Recommendation and Comments .............................................. 9
VIII. Text of Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification .......................... 19
IX. Minority Views ............................................................................................... 24
X. Annex—Letters From Other Senate Committees ....................................... 29
69–115
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I. PURPOSE
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within such EEZs, bring such living marine resources under the ju-
risdiction of coastal States. The Convention provides that each
coastal State has the sovereign right to make determinations under
the Convention related to the utilization, conservation and manage-
ment of living resources within its EEZ. The Convention also in-
cludes specific provisions for the conservation of marine mammals.
While the Convention preserves the freedom to fish on the high
seas, it makes that freedom subject to certain obligations, including
the duty to cooperate in the conservation and management of the
living resources in high seas areas.
Marine Scientific Research
Part XIII of the Convention recognizes the critical role of marine
scientific research in understanding oceanic processes and in in-
formed decision making about uses of the oceans. Following a mari-
time zone approach, it provides coastal States with greater rights
to regulate marine scientific research in their territorial seas than
in the EEZ and on the continental shelf. All States have the right
to conduct such research freely in high seas areas. Part XIII also
provides for international cooperation to promote marine scientific
research.
Deep Seabed Mining
Part XI of the Convention, as fundamentally modified by the
1994 Agreement, establishes a regime governing the exploration
and exploitation of the seabed, ocean floor and subsoil thereof be-
yond the limits of national jurisdiction on the basis of capitalist,
market-oriented principles. As modified, Part XI meets the objec-
tions raised by the United States and other industrialized countries
concerning the original Convention. It is expected to provide a sta-
ble and internationally recognized framework in which mining can
proceed in response to demand in the future for deep seabed min-
erals. The Convention establishes an international organization,
the International Seabed Authority, to administer the regime. In
light of questions raised during the committee’s review of the Con-
vention and 1994 Agreement, it is worth noting that the Authority
is not a United Nations institution. The Authority is an inde-
pendent institution established by the Convention, which is located
in Kingston, Jamaica and currently employs fewer than 40 individ-
uals.
Responding to a principal U.S. objection to the Convention as it
was originally concluded in 1982, the 1994 Agreement provides for
a decisionmaking structure for the Authority that protects U.S. in-
terests. Under Section 3(15)(a) of the Annex to the 1994 Agree-
ment, the United States is guaranteed a seat on the Council in per-
petuity. The decisionmaking process within the Authority is fairly
complex, but any decision that would result in a substantive obliga-
tion on the United States, or that would have financial or budg-
etary implications, would require U.S. consent. Moreover, the
United States would need to approve the adoption of any amend-
ment to the deep seabed mining provisions.
In response to other U.S. objections, the 1994 Agreement also
eliminates mandatory technology transfer provisions and non-mar-
ket based controls on the levels of mineral production from the
deep seabed that were part of the Convention as originally con-
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The committee recommends that the Senate give its advice and
consent to accession to the Convention and ratification of the Im-
plementing Agreement. The committee believes that the Conven-
tion advances important U.S. interests in a number of areas. It ad-
vances U.S. national security interests by preserving the rights of
navigation and overflight through and above the world’s oceans on
which the military relies to protect U.S. interests around the world,
and it enhances the protection of these rights by providing binding
mechanisms to enforce them. It advances U.S. economic interests
by enshrining the right of the United States to explore and exploit
the vast natural resources of the oceans out to 200 nm from our
coastline, and of our continental shelf beyond 200 nm, and by pro-
tecting freedom of navigation on the oceans over which 29.7 per-
cent of all U.S. exports and 52.3 percent of all U.S. imports were
transported in 2006. It advances U.S. interests in the protection of
the environment by protecting and preserving the marine environ-
ment from pollution from a variety of sources, and by establishing
a framework for further international action to combat pollution.
Becoming Party to the Convention also advances the ability of the
United States to play a leadership role in global oceans issues, in-
cluding by allowing the United States to participate fully in institu-
tions created by the Convention such as the International Seabed
Authority, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf,
and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
In an era when the United States faces growing energy vulner-
ability, failing to accede to the Convention will constrain the oppor-
tunities of U.S. energy companies to explore beyond 200 nm. Mr.
Paul Kelly, testifying on behalf of the oil and gas industry, asserted
that under the Convention, the United States would have the op-
portunity to receive international recognition of its economic sov-
ereignty over more than 291,000 square miles of extended conti-
nental shelf. Much of this is in the Arctic, which holds approxi-
mately one quarter of the world’s undiscovered oil and natural gas,
according to the U.S. Geological Survey World Petroleum Assess-
ment in 2000. As Mr. Kelly testified to the committee: ‘‘by some es-
timates, in the years ahead we could see a historic dividing up of
many millions of square kilometers of offshore territory with man-
agement rights that accrue . . . . So, our question is, how much
longer can the United States afford to be a laggard in joining this
process?’’
The committee believes it important that U.S. accession to the
Convention be completed promptly. The Convention became open
for amendment in November 2004. As noted above, in negotiating
the Convention, the United States was successful in achieving a re-
gime that struck a careful balance in ensuring protection of many
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there is surplus over and above the allowable catch and that the
coastal State does not or will not have the capacity to harvest that
surplus. In such event, access may be provided under reasonable
terms and conditions established by the coastal State. The Magnu-
son-Stevens Act and other legislation provide the United States
with the authority to cooperate with other States in managing fish-
eries resources that are highly migratory or that straddle jurisdic-
tional lines, in order to comply with obligations under Articles 63,
64, 118, and 119. Consistent with Article 297(3), binding dispute
settlement does not apply to disputes relating to a coastal State’s
discretionary powers for determining the allowable catch, its har-
vesting capacity, the allocation of surpluses to other States, and the
terms and conditions established in its conservation and manage-
ment laws and regulations.
The eighteenth understanding concerns Article 65, which ad-
dresses marine mammals. In part, Article 65 provides that the
Convention does not restrict the right of a coastal State or the com-
petence of an international organization to take stricter measures
than those provided in the Convention. With respect to this provi-
sion, the understanding notes that it lent direct support to the es-
tablishment of the international moratorium on commercial whal-
ing that is in place and that it lends current support to the creation
of sanctuaries and other conservation measures. Article 65 also
provides that, in the case of cetaceans, States shall work through
appropriate international organizations for their conservation,
management and study. The understanding indicates, with respect
to this provision, that such cooperation applies not only to large
whales but to all cetaceans.
The nineteenth understanding makes clear that the term ‘‘sani-
tary laws and regulations’’ in Article 33 is not limited to the trans-
mittal of human illnesses, but may include, for example, laws and
regulations to protect human health from pathogens being intro-
duced into the territorial sea. This example is non-exhaustive.
The next five understandings and declarations generally address
procedural and constitutional matters.
The twentieth understanding relates to decision making in the
Council, the executive organ of the International Seabed Authority
that has substantial decision making authority. Article 161(8)(d)
provides for certain decisions of the Council to be taken by con-
sensus. The United States will, by virtue of the 1994 Agreement,
have a permanent seat on the Council. As such, the United States
will be in a position to block consensus in the Council on decisions
subject to consensus decision making. The Convention, as modified
by the Agreement, is structured to ensure consensus decision mak-
ing for the most significant decisions, including decisions resulting
in binding substantive obligations on States Parties. The under-
standing reinforces the negotiated agreement that decisions adopt-
ed by procedures other than the consensus procedure in Article
161(8)(d) will involve administrative, institutional or procedural
matters and will not result in binding substantive obligations on
the United States.
The twenty-first understanding addresses certain decisions of the
Assembly, the primary body of the International Seabed Authority.
Specifically, the Assembly, under Article 160(2)(e), assesses the
contributions of members to the administrative budget of the Au-
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thority until the Authority has sufficient income from other sources
to meet its administrative expenses. Section 3(7) of the Annex to
the 1994 Agreement provides that ‘‘[d]ecisions of the Assembly . . .
having financial or budgetary implications shall be based on the
recommendations of the Finance Committee.’’ Under Section 9(3) of
the Annex to the 1994 Implementing Agreement seats are guaran-
teed on the Finance Committee for ‘‘the five largest contributors to
the administrative budget of the Authority’’ until the Authority has
sufficient funds other than assessed contributions to meet its ad-
ministrative expenses. Because such contributions are based on the
United Nations scale of assessments (and because the United
States is the largest contributor on that scale), the United States
will have a seat on the Finance Committee so long as the Authority
supports itself through assessed contributions. The understanding
ties these related provisions together to make clear that no as-
sessed contributions could be decided by the Assembly without the
agreement of the United States in the Finance Committee.
The twenty-second declaration addresses Article 39 of Annex VI
of the Convention, which provides for decisions of the Seabed Dis-
putes Chamber to be enforceable in the territories of the States
Parties in the same manner as judgments or orders of the highest
court of the State Party in whose territory the enforcement is
sought. Because of potential constitutional concerns regarding di-
rect enforceability of this provision in U.S. courts and because Arti-
cle 39 does not require any particular manner in which Chamber
decisions must be made enforceable, the declaration provides that,
for the United States, such decisions shall be enforceable only in
accordance with procedures established by implementing legislation
and that such decisions shall be subject to such legal and factual
review as is constitutionally required and without precedential ef-
fect in any court of the United States. Given the current undevel-
oped state of deep seabed mining, such legislation would not be
necessary before U.S. accession to the Convention.
The twenty-third understanding focuses on the adoption of
amendments to section 4 of Annex VI of the Convention, which re-
lates to the Seabed Disputes Chamber, which is established under
the Convention to resolve certain disputes arising in connection
with deep sea bed mining. The basic rules for amending Annex VI
are set forth in section 5 of that Annex. It is clear from Article 41
of that Annex, with respect to amendments to Annex VI other than
to section 4, that the United States could block adoption of such an
amendment (either through the ability to block afforded by Article
313(2) or through the consensus procedure at a conference of the
States Parties). Regarding amendments to section 4 of Annex VI,
related to the Seabed Disputes Chamber, Article 41(2) of Annex VI
provides that such amendments may be adopted only in accordance
with Article 314, which in turn requires that such amendments be
approved by the Assembly following approval by the Council. Arti-
cle 314 does not specify the decisionmaking rule by which the
Council must approve the amendment before the Assembly may
adopt it; Article 161(8), which lists certain categories of decisions
and their corresponding decision making rules, also does not spe-
cifically address adoption of amendments to section 4 of Annex IV.
Turning to Article 161(8)(f) to determine the default rule for deci-
sions within the authority of the Council for which the decision
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ANNEX
(29)
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