Geoscience Reference
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10.4 Regulation through integration
An evident instance of regulation through integration in the UNCLOS itself are the two
UNCLOS implementation agreements which have been adopted so far. In this case, changes
in the UNCLOS regime are introduced in a 'physiological' manner which does not entail a
rupture in the UNCLOS system.
In 1994, several provisions of the most innovative part of UNCLOS, that is the part
relating to the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (so-called 'Area') subject to
the regime of common heritage of mankind, were changed to meet the hope for universal
participationintheConvention.ThiswasdonebytheAgreementRelatingtotheImplement-
ation of Part XI of the UNCLOS, which was annexed to Resolution 48/263, adopted by the
General Assembly on17August 1994.Infact the politically prudent label ofan 'implement-
ation agreement' is a euphemism for the word 'amendment', which would have been more
correct from the legal point of view. The provisions of the 1994 Implementation Agreement
andthoseofPartXIoftheUNCLOS'shallbeinterpretedandappliedtogetherasasinglein-
strument' (Art.2oftheAgreement). However,intheevent ofanyinconsistency between the
1994 Implementation Agreement and Part XI of the UNCLOS, the provisions of the former
shall prevail (incidentally, the fact that 21 states (as at May 2014) which are parties to the
UNCLOS are not yet parties to the 1994 Implementation Agreement is a persistent matter of
concern and raises almost inextricable questions of the law of treaties).
The trend to 'integrate' the UNCLOS regime with some relevant additional provisions
has also occurred in the field of fisheries. The Agreement for the Implementation of the
Provisions of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, of 10 December 1982,
Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migrat-
ory Fish Stocks, was opened for signature in New York on 4 December 1995. This treaty
has one evident defect (which is the unbearable length of its title) and many merits. For in-
stance, it includes detailed provisions on the precautionary approach as applied to fisheries
(Art. 6 and Annex II), it establishes that a party may authorize a vessel to use its flag for
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