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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 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001224  002 OF 005 
 
 
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 
------------------------------------------- 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001224  003 OF 005 
 
 
 
¶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 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001224  004 OF 005 
 
 
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 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001224  005 OF 005 
 
 
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