BBNJ Agreement: Exceptions on Non-Retroactivity Utilised

On 4 February 2025 Spain ratified the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). This was shortly followed thereafter by France ratifying the BBNJ Agreement on 5 February 2025. Both States submitted declarations upon ratification. These declarations are consistent with the previously reported EU law, whereby the exception to retroactive effect, as set in Article 10(1) of BBNJ Agreement, will be employed upon signature or ratification of the BBNJ Agreement. Relevant provisions of the BBNJ Agreement will therefore, for France and Spain, apply only to activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction collected or generated after the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement for France and Spain, respectively. Other interesting points are also included in the declaration of France.