The contribution of international scientific cooperation and related institutions to effective governance for the oceans: the cases of regional tsunami early warning systems and the Argo Project - Ocean Sustainability in the 21st Century - page 272

activities such as (a)the collection ofmeteorological information fromvoluntary observing
ships, buoys, other ocean platforms, aircraft, and meteorological satellites, and (b) research
activities, both meteorological and oceanographic, such as those carried out during the
Global Weather Experiment. The Resolution considered that 'an adequate marine meteoro-
logical data coverage from ocean areas, in particular from those areas in the so-called “ex-
clusive economic zone”, is indispensable for the issue of timely and accurate storm warn-
ings for the safety of life at sea and the protection of life and property in coastal and off-
shore areas' and that 'the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea of 1960
specifies that the contracting Governments undertake, inter alia, to issue warnings of gales,
storms and tropical storms and to arrange forselected ships to take meteorological observa-
tions', as well as that 'members of the World Meteorological Organization have undertaken
the responsibility of issuing warnings for the high seas and coastal waters according to in-
ternationally agreed procedures'.
Resolution 16 (Cg-VIII) was reported to the 46th meeting of the Third Committee of
the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (20 August 1980) by its Chair-
man, Ambassador A. Yankov from Bulgaria, who noted that the activities referred to in the
Resolution 'had already been recognized as routine observations and data collecting which
were not covered by Part XIII of the negotiating text. Furthermore, they were in the com-
mon interest of all countries and had undoubted universal significance' (United Nations,
1979a , paras. 4 and 5). This opinion was reported also in the 134th Plenary meeting of the
Third Conference (United Nations, 1979b , para. 43), without dissent. It should be added
that the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization pre-dates UNCLOS, as it
was adopted by the Washington Conference of Directors of the International Meteorolo-
gical Organization (IMO) on 11 October 1947, following the experience of IMO, founded
in 1873. The Convention entered into force on 23 March 1951, thus establishing WMO
the following year. WMO policy and practice in relation to meteorological and related data
and products is currently provided for by Resolution 40 (Cg-XII) (WMO, 1995 ; cf. WMO,
1999 ) , whose Annex I specifies data and products to be exchanged without charge and with
no conditions on use, including: