Page 218 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

binding text, consensually through negoti- all seas and oceans, in addition to all States.
ated and egalitarian agreements, covering Second, this is because of the complexity
the various interests at stake. For these rea- and scope of its normative text, which man-
sons, the UNCLOS ended up being called aged to solve historical problems and pre-
the “Constitution of the Oceans”, in our cisely delimit marine spaces and the rights
view, a fair comparison and analogy, with and duties of countries in their use. Still, and
all its limitations that international law itself not least because of its superior character
has (SCOVAZZI, 2000) 18 to the other sparse norms, the convention
Thus, the UNCLOS represented an ex- overlaps the other existing rules of Law of
traordinary evolution in the international the Sea and creates an environment of inter-
law of the sea and navigation. This is firstly, national legal security, since everyone knows
because of its universal character, covering the law to be applied (BASTOS, Op. Cit.).
3. The application of rules at sea and the disputes in their interpretation:
the institutions and the dispute settlement system at sea
Notwithstanding the establishment of of the IMO in the UNCLOS: in Article 2
the rules relating to the use of maritime of Annex VIII, which deals with the cre-
spaces and marine resources, on several ation and maintenance of lists of experts
occasions there are divergences in the in- for international arbitration, and the IMO
terpretation and application of these rules responsible for doing so with regard to
by States, which, on many occasions, end “navigation, including pollution from ves-
up using the dispute settlement system at sels and by jettisoning” (UNCLOS, Annex
sea created by UNCLOS. In addition, oth- VIII, Art. 1). However, there is an import-
er specialized institutions have the task of ant series of norms in the UNCLOS text in
acting in the use of the seas and in the ex- which there is an indirect, but unequivo-
ploitation of their resources. cal, reference to the IMO. This is primarily
When it comes to maritime navigation, through the expression “competent in-
the main institution is the International ternational organization” (UNCLOS, An-
Maritime Organization (IMO), which is re- nex VIII, Art. 1). As the institution under
20
sponsible for taking care of safety measures analysis is an international organization
in international navigation and environ- and has a universal mandate to deal with
mental issues in the marine environment, issues of maritime safety and pollution, it
with the slogan: “Safe, secure and efficient is evident that it is the International Mar-
shipping on clean oceans” . itime Organization (VENTURA, 2005) Fur-
19
The IMO plays an important role in the thermore, the UNCLOS speaks of “gen-
implementation of the United Nations erally accepted” rules, standards, regula-
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UN- tions, procedures and practices, which the
CLOS) of 1982 (BLANCO-BAZÁN, 2000). doctrine understands to refer to norms
There is thus only a single textual mention and parameters established by the IMO. 21
216 BLUE ECONOMY
When IMO began operations, its main the request is valid, the Continental Shelf
concern was to develop international trea- beyond 200 miles is approved and the
ties and other legislation on safety and pre- coastal State will have rights to explore and
vention of marine pollution. In general, this exploit the living and non-living natural re-
work has been carried out effectively and sources of this maritime seabed region.
the organization currently focusing its ef- In addition to the Continental Shelf,
forts on keeping the legislation up to date the seabed is located beyond national ju-
and ensuring ratification by as many States risdiction, the so-called Area. This zone is
as possible. This has also been achieved conceptualized in the UNCLOS simply as:
quite satisfactorily, with several texts that “Area means the sea ground, the seabed,
apply to more than 98% of the world’s ton- and its subsoil beyond the limits of national
nage of merchant ships. Currently, IMO’s jurisdiction” (UNCLOS, Art. 1, 1).
emphasis is on trying to ensure that these The UNCLOS does not expressly state
conventions and other treaties are properly what the purposes of the International Sea-
implemented by member states. bed Authority would be, but it is possible to
On the other hand, when it comes to derive them from the text. In reality, there
seabeds, there are two institutions that reg- are two purposes of the Authority: to rep-
ulate their use and exploitation: the Conti- resent Humanity – to which all the resourc-
nental Shelf Limits Commission (CLCS) and es of the Area belong – and to organize,
the International Seabed Authority (ISA). administer and control the activities in this
The Continental Shelf Limits Commis- maritime zone.
sion has the function of analyzing the The Authority performs, first of all, a
claims of coastal States on the existence dual representative function, never be-
or not of a scientific based extended con- fore configured by any other organization
tinental shelf. States that believe that their within the United Nations. On the one
continental shelves extend beyond 200 hand, it is the end where States parties
nautical miles must carry out a topograph- to UNCLOS express their opinions, nego-
ic study and submit a request to extend tiate and make decisions, with a view to
the legal regime of the continental shelf organizing and controlling activities in the
beyond these 200 miles. Area. On the other hand, it is more than
This delimitation beyond 200 miles a simple means of collective expression
works, in practice, as follows: the coastal by its members. It is also the organization
State carries out a study to delimit what it that represents all of Humanity. 3
understands to be its Continental Shelf, us- The administration of the Area and its
ing the rules established by the UNCLOS. resources is the Authority’s second purpose.
After that, it is presented to the Continen- This does not mean that you own a property
tal Shelf Limits Commission, composed of right, but you can only manage the explo-
21 members, which will analyze the scien- ration in this area. To this end, the Author-
tific data and vote on the State’s request. If ity must control all activities carried out in
a two-thirds qualified majority agrees that the Area in accordance with the regulations
The Regulation of the Sea: Consolidation and Perspectives 217