Category Archives: Treaties

The Nagoya – Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, adopted 15 October 2010, entered into force 5 March 2018 with 41 contracting parties. The instrument provides for rules and procedures on liability and redress for damage resulting from transboundary movements of living modified organisms. Article 2(2)(b) defines “damage” to biodiversity.

For more information see the Nagoya – Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol, press release, factsheet and status.

ILO Convention (No. 188) concerning work in the fishing sector, entered into force, 16 November 2017, as per article 48(2).

For further information including supplementary material, see the ILO press release. For informaiton on the status of the convention, see the UNTS page here.

The 17th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flaura (CITES) decided to expand the species of sharks protected by CITES controls, including silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), thresher sharks (Alopias spp.) and all nine devil ray species (Mobula spp.) within Appendix II. Listing of devil rays entered into effect on 04 April 2017, while silky and thresher shark listing was subject to a 12 month delay, entering into effect 4 October 2017.

For more information see the press release here, or the sharks and manta rays page here.

The UK Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, has announced the UK shall notify the other Member States of its withdrawal from the London Fisheries Convention on 3 July 2017, triggering a two-year withdrawal period.

For more information see the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs press release and the London Fisheries Convention.

On 21 April 2017 Norway became the first state to deposit its instrument of ratification to the Protocol of 2010 to the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea. There are currently seven other signatories, subject to ratification.

For further information, and requirements for entry into force, see here. A consolidated version of the treaty (2010 HNS Convention) is available here.

The Government of Norway will host the the First Meeting of the Parties to the PSMA [Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing] and the First Meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group to be established under Article 21 of the Agreement, from 29 to 31 May 2017 and from 1 to 2 June 2017, respectively, in Oslo. The first Meeting of the Parties will address a variety of aspects of implementation, whilst the Ad Hoc Working Group is to consider the requirements of developing state parties and ‘options for the establishment of funding mechanisms’, as per article 21.

For more information see here and here.

On the 7th October 2016 Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands concluded 33 years of negotiation by signing a maritime boundary agreement addressing “Temotu Province in Solomon Islands and Torba Province of Vanuatu”. The agreement was signed on Mota Lava Island, Vanuatu (see references ‘Mota Lava Treaty’).

For more information see the press releases by The Solomon Islands Prime Minister’s Press Office and The Pacific Community (SPC). See further the reference to the incorporation of local custom within the delimitation process, here.

The Ballast Water Management Convention was ratified by a sufficient number of states on 8 September 2016, bringing the total gross tonnage to over 35% from the signatory states. This means the convention will enter into force 12 months later, on 8 September 2017. Accession by Finland has triggered the entry into force of this key international measure for environmental protection that aims to stop the spread of potentially invasive aquatic species in ships’ ballast water. More on this here.

A new regulation aimed at protecting seafarers who need to enter enclosed spaces, by requiring ships to carry portable atmosphere testing equipment on board, entered into force on 1 July 2016. The new regulation XI-1/7 Atmosphere testing instrument for enclosed spaces in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), requires ships to carry an appropriate portable atmosphere testing instrument or instruments, capable, as a minimum, of measuring concentrations of oxygen, flammable gases or vapours, hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide, prior to entry into enclosed spaces. More information can be found here.

The 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA), has reached the required threshold of formal deposits of adherence and will therefore enter into force on 5 June 2016. According to the FAO press release, the following states and regional economic integration organization are parties to the PSMA: Australia, Barbados, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, European Union – Member Organization, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Iceland, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Palau, Republic of Korea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Tonga, United States of America, Uruguay, and Vanuatu.

For more information, see the FAO press release here.

Unconfirmed reports also suggest Gambia has ratified the PSMA within its internal National Assembly, however, according to the FAO website, it has not yet formally deposited an instrument of adherence.

The Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, adopted on the 18th May 2007, entered into force on Tuesday 14th April 2015. According to the IMO the 20 current State parties represent 32.9% of the world’s tonnage.

The convention can be found here, along with a summary by the IMO here.

After twenty years of negotiations, the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic Indonesia concerning the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone boundary has been successfully signed. The Agreement was met with support by the European Union. Further information on this achievement is provided by the Philippines Government here.

The PH-RI EEZ Boundary is defined by geodetic lines connecting eight points. These points are indicated in geographical coordinates that form a single line as illustrated in the chart shown below. The total length of the line is 627.51 nautical miles or 1,162.2 kilometers from points 1 to 8.