services for the purposes of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
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14.The Conference of the Parties shall establish a finance committee on financial resources. It shall be composed of members possessing appropriate qualifications and expertise, taking into account gender balance and equitable geographical distribution.
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The terms of reference and modalities for the operation of the committee shall be decided by the Conference of the Parties. The committee shall periodically report and make recommendations on the identification and mobilization of funds under the mechanism.
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It shall also collect information and report on funding under other mechanisms and instruments contributing directly or indirectly to the achievement of the objectives of this Agreement. In addition to the considerations provided in this article, the committee shall consider, inter alia: (a) The assessment of the needs of the Parties, in particular developing States Parties; (b) The availability and timely disbursement of funds; (c) The transparency of decision-making and management processes concerning fundraising and allocations; (d) The accountability of the recipient developing States Parties with respect to the agreed use of funds.
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15.The Conference of the Parties shall consider the reports and recommendations of the finance committee and take appropriate action.
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16.The Conference of the Parties shall, in addition, undertake a periodic review of the financial mechanism to assess the adequacy, effectiveness and accessibility of financial resources, including for the delivery of capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology, in particular for developing States Parties.
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PART VIII
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IMPLEMENTATION AND COMPLIANCE
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Article 53Implementation
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Parties shall take the necessary legislative, administrative or policy measures, as appropriate, to ensure the implementation of this Agreement.
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Article 54Monitoring of implementation
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Each Party shall monitor the implementation of its obligations under this Agreement and shall, in a format and at intervals to be determined by the Conference of the Parties, report to the Conference on measures that it has taken to implement this Agreement.
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Article 55Implementation and Compliance Committee
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1.An Implementation and Compliance Committee to facilitate and consider the implementation of and promote compliance with the provisions of this Agreement is hereby established. The Implementation and Compliance Committee shall be facilitative in nature and function in a manner that is transparent, non-adversarial and non-punitive.
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2.The Implementation and Compliance Committee shall consist of members possessing appropriate qualifications and experience nominated by Parties and elected by the Conference of the Parties, with due consideration given to gender balance and equitable geographical representation.
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3.The Implementation and Compliance Committee shall operate under the modalities and rules of procedure adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its first meeting. The Implementation and Compliance Committee shall consider issues of implementation and compliance at the individual and systemic levels, inter alia, and report periodically and make recommendations, as appropriate while cognizant of respective national circumstances, to the Conference of the Parties.
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4.In the course of its work, the Implementation and Compliance Committee may draw on appropriate information from bodies established under this Agreement, as well as relevant legal instruments and frameworks and relevant global, regional, subregional and sectoral bodies, as may be required.
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PART IX
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SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
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Article 56Prevention of disputes
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Parties shall cooperate in order to prevent disputes.
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Article 57Obligation to settle disputes by peaceful means
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Parties have the obligation to settle their disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice.
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Article 58Settlement of disputes by any peaceful means chosen by the
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Parties Nothing in this Part impairs the right of any Party to this Agreement to agree at any time to settle a dispute between them concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement by any peaceful means of their own choice.
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Article 59Disputes of a technical nature
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Where a dispute concerns a matter of a technical nature, the Parties concerned may refer the dispute to an ad hoc expert panel established by them. The panel shall confer with the Parties concerned and shall endeavour to resolve the dispute expeditiously without recourse to binding procedures for the settlement of disputes under article 60 of this Agreement.
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Article 60Procedures for the settlement of disputes
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1.Disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be settled in accordance with the provisions for the settlement of disputes provided for in Part XV of the Convention.
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2.The provisions of Part XV of and Annexes V, VI, VII and VIII to the Convention shall be deemed to be replicated for the purpose of the settlement of disputes involving a Party to this Agreement that is not a Party to the Convention.
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3.Any procedure accepted by a Party to this Agreement that is also a Party to the Convention pursuant to article 287 of the Convention shall apply to the settlement of disputes under this Part, unless that Party, when signing, ratifying, approving, accepting or acceding to this Agreement, or at any time thereafter, has accepted another procedure pursuant to article 287 of the Convention for the settlement of disputes under this Part.
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4.Any declaration made by a Party to this Agreement that is also a Party to the Convention pursuant to article 298 of the Convention shall apply to the settlement of disputes under this Part, unless that Party, when signing, ratifying, approving, accepting or acceding to this Agreement, or at any time thereafter, has made a different declaration pursuant to article 298 of the Convention for the settlement of disputes under this Part.
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5.Pursuant to paragraph 2 above, a Party to this Agreement that is not a Party to the Convention, when signing, ratifying, approving, accepting or acceding to this Agreement, or at any time thereafter, shall be free to choose, by means of a written declaration, submitted to the depositary, one or more of the following means for the settlement of disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement: (a) The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; (b) The International Court of Justice; (c) An Annex VII arbitral tribunal; (d) An Annex VIII special arbitral tribunal for one or more of the categories of disputes specified in said Annex.
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6.A Party to this Agreement that is not a Party to the Convention that has not issued a declaration shall be deemed to have accepted the option in paragraph 5 (c) above. If the parties to a dispute have accepted the same procedure for the settlement of the dispute, it may be submitted only to that procedure, unless the parties otherwise agree. If the parties to a dispute have not accepted the same procedure for the settlement of the dispute, it may be submitted only to arbitration under Annex VII to the Convention, unless the parties otherwise agree. Article 287, paragraphs 6 to 8, of the Convention shall apply to declarations made under paragraph 5 above.
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7.A Party to this Agreement that is not a Party to the Convention may, when signing, ratifying, approving, accepting or acceding to this Agreement, or at any time thereafter, without prejudice to the obligations arising under this Part, declare in writing that it does not accept any or more of the procedures provided for in Part XV, section 2, of the Convention with respect to one or more of the categories of disputes set out in article 298 of the Convention for the settlement of disputes under this Part. Article 298 of the Convention shall apply to such a declaration.
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8.The provisions of this article shall be without prejudice to the procedures on the settlement of disputes to which Parties have agreed as participants in a relevant legal instrument or framework, or as members of a relevant global, regional, subregional or sectoral body concerning the interpretation or application of such instruments and frameworks.
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9.Nothing in this Agreement shall be interpreted as conferring jurisdiction upon a court or tribunal over any dispute that concerns or necessarily involves the concurrent consideration of the legal status of an area as within national jurisdiction, nor over any dispute concerning sovereignty or other rights over continental or insular land territory or a claim thereto of a Party to this Agreement, provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted as limiting the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal under Part XV, section 2, of the Convention.
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10.For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Agreement shall be relied upon as a basis for asserting or denying any claims to sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction over land or maritime areas, including in respect to any disputes relating thereto.
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Article 61Provisional arrangements
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Pending the settlement of a dispute in accordance with this Part, the parties to the dispute shall make every effort to enter into provisional arrangements of a practical nature.
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PART X
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NON-PARTIES TO THIS AGREEMENT
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Article 62Non-parties to this Agreement
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Parties shall encourage non-parties to this Agreement to become Parties thereto and to adopt laws and regulations consistent with its provisions.
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PART XI
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GOOD FAITH AND ABUSE OF RIGHTS
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Article 63Good faith and abuse of rights
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Parties shall fulfil in good faith the obligations assumed under this Agreement and exercise the rights recognized therein in a manner that would not constitute an abuse of right.
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PART XII
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FINAL PROVISIONS
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Article 64Right to vote
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1.Each Party to this Agreement shall have one vote, except as provided for in paragraph 2 below.
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2.A regional economic integration organization Party to this Agreement, on matters within its competence, shall exercise its right to vote with a number of votes equal to the number of its member States that are Parties to this Agreement. Such an organization shall not exercise its right to vote if any of its member States exercises its right to vote, and vice versa.
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Article 65Signature
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This Agreement shall be open for signature by all States and regional economic integration organizations from 20 September 2023 and shall remain open for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York until 20 September 2025.
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Article 66Ratification, approval, acceptance and accession
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This Agreement shall be subject to ratification, approval or acceptance by States and regional economic integration organizations. It shall be open for accession by States and regional economic integration organizations from the day after the date on which the Agreement is closed for signature.
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Instruments of ratification, approval, acceptance and accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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Article 67Division of the competence of regional economic integration
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organizations and their member States in respect of the matters governed by this Agreement 1. Any regional economic integration organization that becomes a Party to this Agreement without any of its member States being a Party shall be bound by all the obligations under this Agreement. In the case of such organizations, one or more of whose member States is a Party to this Agreement, the organization and its member States shall decide on their respective responsibilities for the performance of their obligations under this Agreement. In such cases, the organization and the member States shall not be entitled to exercise rights under this Agreement concurrently.
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2.In its instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession, a regional economic integration organization shall declare the extent of its competence in respect of the matters governed by this Agreement. Any such organization shall also inform the depositary, who shall in turn inform the Parties, of any relevant modification of the extent of its competence.
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Article 68Entry into force
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1.This Agreement shall enter into force 120 days after the date of deposit of the sixtieth instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession.
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2.For each State or regional economic integration organization that ratifies, approves or accepts this Agreement or accedes thereto after the deposit of the sixtieth instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession, this Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the deposit of its instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession, subject to paragraph 1 above.
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3.For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2 above, any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by the member States of that organization.
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Article 69Provisional application
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1.This Agreement may be applied provisionally by a State or regional economic integration organization that consents to its provisional application by so notifying the depositary in writing at the time of signature or deposit of its instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession. Such provisional application shall become effective from the date of receipt of the notification by the depositary.
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2.Provisional application by a State or regional economic integration organization shall terminate upon the entry into force of this Agreement for that State or regional economic integration organization or upon notification by that State or regional economic integration organization to the depositary in writing of its intention to terminate its provisional application.
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Article 70Reservations and exceptions
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No reservations or exceptions may be made to this Agreement, unless expressly permitted by other articles of this Agreement.
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Article 71Declarations and statements
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Article 70 does not preclude a State or regional economic integration organization, when signing, ratifying, approving, accepting or acceding to this Agreement, from making declarations or statements, however phrased or named, with a view, inter alia, to the harmonization of its laws and regulations with the provisions of this Agreement, provided that such declarations or statements do not purport to exclude or to modify the legal effect of the provisions of this Agreement in their application to that State or regional economic integration organization.
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Article 72Amendment
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1.A Party may, by written communication addressed to the secretariat, propose amendments to this Agreement. The secretariat shall circulate such a communication to all Parties.
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If, within six months from the date of the circulation of the communication, not less than one half of the Parties reply favourably to the request, the proposed amendment shall be considered at the following meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
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2.An amendment to this Agreement adopted in accordance with article 47 shall be communicated by the depositary to all Parties for ratification, approval or acceptance.
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3.Amendments to this Agreement shall enter into force for the Parties ratifying, approving or accepting them on the thirtieth day following the deposit of instruments of ratification, approval or acceptance by two thirds of the number of Parties to this Agreement as at the time of adoption of the amendment.
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Thereafter, for each Party depositing its instrument of ratification, approval or acceptance of an amendment after the deposit of the required number of such instruments, the amendment shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the deposit of its instrument of ratification, approval or acceptance.
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4.An amendment may provide, at the time of its adoption, that a smaller or larger number of ratifications, approvals or acceptances shall be required for its entry into force than required under this article.
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5.For the purposes of paragraphs 3 and 4 above, any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by the member States of that organization.
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6.A State or regional economic integration organization that becomes a Party to this Agreement after the entry into force of amendments in accordance with paragraph 3 above shall, failing an expression of a different intention by that State or regional economic integration organization: (a) Be considered as a Party to this Agreement as so amended; (b) Be considered as a Party to the unamended Agreement in relation to any Party not bound by the amendment.
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Article 73Denunciation
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1.A Party may, by written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, denounce this Agreement and may indicate its reasons. Failure to indicate reasons shall not affect the validity of the denunciation. The denunciation shall take effect one year after the date of receipt of the notification, unless the notification specifies a later date.
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2.The denunciation shall not in any way affect the duty of any Party to fulfil any obligation embodied in this Agreement to which it would be subject under international law independently of this Agreement.
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Article 74Annexes
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1.The annexes form an integral part of this Agreement and, unless expressly provided otherwise, a reference to this Agreement or to one of its parts includes a reference to the annexes relating thereto.
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2.The provisions of article 72 relating to the amendment of this Agreement shall also apply to the proposal, adoption and entry into force of a new annex to the Agreement.
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3.Any Party may propose an amendment to any annex to this Agreement for consideration at the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties. The annexes may be amended by the Conference of the Parties. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 72, the following provisions shall apply in relation to amendments to annexes to this Agreement: (a) The text of the proposed amendment shall be communicated to the secretariat at least 150 days before the meeting. The secretariat shall, upon receiving the text of the proposed amendment, communicate it to the Parties. The secretariat shall consult relevant subsidiary bodies, as required, and shall communicate any response to all Parties not later than 30 days before the meeting; (b) Amendments adopted at a meeting shall enter into force 180 days after the close of that meeting for all Parties, except those that make an objection in accordance with paragraph 4 below.
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4.During the period of 180 days provided for in paragraph 3 (b) above, any Party may, by notification in writing to the depositary, make an objection with respect to the amendment. Such objection may be withdrawn at any time by written notification to the depositary and, thereupon, the amendment to the annex shall enter into force for that Party on the thirtieth day after the date of withdrawal of the objection.
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Article 75Depositary
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The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the depositary of this Agreement and any amendments or revisions thereto.
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Article 76Authentic texts
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The Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts of this Agreement are equally authentic.
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ANNEX I Indicative criteria for identification of areas (a) Uniqueness; (b) Rarity; (c) Special importance for the life history stages of species; (d) Special importance of the species found therein; (e) The importance for threatened, endangered or declining species or habitats; (f) Vulnerability, including to climate change and ocean acidification; (g) Fragility; (h) Sensitivity; (i) Biological diversity and productivity; (j) Representativeness; (k) Dependency; (l) Naturalness; (m) Ecological connectivity; (n) Important ecological processes occurring therein; (o) Economic and social factors; (p) Cultural factors; (q) Cumulative and transboundary impacts; (r) Slow recovery and resilience; (s) Adequacy and viability; (t) Replication; (u) Sustainability of reproduction; (v) Existence of conservation and management measures.
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ANNEX II Types of capacity-building and of the transfer of marine technology Under this Agreement, capacity-building and transfer of marine technology initiatives may include but are not limited to: (a) The sharing of relevant data, information, knowledge and research, in user- friendly formats, including: (i) The sharing of marine scientific and technological knowledge; (ii) The exchange of information on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction; (iii) The sharing of research and development results; (b) Information dissemination and awareness-raising, including with regard to: (i) Marine scientific research, marine sciences and related marine operations and services; (ii) Environmental and biological information collected through research conducted in areas beyond national jurisdiction; (iii) Relevant traditional knowledge in line with the free, prior and informed consent of the holders of such knowledge; (iv) Stressors on the ocean that affect marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, including the adverse effects of climate change, such as warming and ocean deoxygenation, as well as ocean acidification; (v) Measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas; (vi) Environmental impact assessments; (c) The development and strengthening of relevant infrastructure, including equipment, such as: (i) The development and establishment of necessary infrastructure; (ii) The provision of technology, including sampling and methodology equipment (e.g., for water, geological, biological or chemical samples); (iii) The acquisition of the equipment necessary to support and further develop research and development capabilities, including in data management, in the context of activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, and the conduct of environmental impact assessments; (d) The development and strengthening of institutional capacity and national regulatory frameworks or mechanisms, including: (i) Governance, policy and legal frameworks and mechanisms; (ii) Assistance in the development, implementation and enforcement of national legislative, administrative or policy measures, including associated regulatory, scientific and technical requirements at the national, subregional or regional level; (iii) Technical support for the implementation of the
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provisions of this Agreement, including for data monitoring and reporting; (iv) Capacity to translate information and data into effective and efficient policies, including by facilitating access to and the acquisition of knowledge necessary to inform decision makers in developing States Parties; (v) The establishment or strengthening of the institutional capacities of relevant national and regional organizations and institutions; (vi) The establishment of national and regional scientific centres, including as data repositories; (vii) The development of regional centres of excellence; (viii) The development of regional centres for skills development; (ix) Increasing cooperative links between regional institutions, for example, North-South and South-South collaboration and collaboration among regional seas organizations and regional fisheries management organizations; (e) The development and strengthening of human and financial management resource capabilities and of technical expertise through exchanges, research collaboration, technical support, education and training and the transfer of marine technology, such as: (i) Collaboration and cooperation in marine science, including through data collection, technical exchange, scientific research projects and programmes, and the development of joint scientific research projects in cooperation with institutions in developing States; (ii) Education and training in: a. The natural and social sciences, both basic and applied, to develop scientific and research capacity; b. Technology, and the application of marine science and technology, to develop scientific and research capacities; c. Policy and governance; d. The relevance and application of traditional knowledge; (iii) The exchange of experts, including experts on traditional knowledge; (iv) The provision of funding for the development of human resources and technical expertise, including through: a. The provision of scholarships or other grants for representatives of small island developing States Parties in workshops, training programmes or other relevant programmes to develop their specific capacities; b. The provision of financial and technical expertise and resources, in particular for small island developing States, concerning environmental impact assessments; (v) The establishment of a networking mechanism among trained human resources; (f) The development and sharing of manuals, guidelines and standards, including: (i) Criteria and reference materials; (ii) Technology standards and rules; (iii) A repository for manuals and relevant information to
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share knowledge and capacity on how to conduct environmental impact assessments, lessons learned and best practices; (g) The development of technical, scientific and research and development programmes, including biotechnological research activities.