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International Treaties and Conventions The international conventions that directly address various aspects of marine litter (ML) include Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78), the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and other Matter (the London Convention) and the Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (the Basel Convention). While there are existing laws regulating the dumping of trash at sea and on shore, the global nature of marine litter, its inability to be confined within territorial boundaries, and the complexity of identifying litter sources have made effective laws difficult to draft and even harder to enforce. The following is a detailed listing of relevant international treaties and conventions that address the jurisdiction and handling of marine litter from landbased and ocean-based sources across the globe and support the foundation of the UNEP Marine Litter (ML) Initiative: The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention) was signed in 1972 and addresses the control of dumping of wastes at sea. Annex I of the Convention lists wastes and other matters which must not be dumped. It is recognized that plastic materials, and other materials that may cause problems of entanglement and ingestion by marine organisms, constitute an environmental hazard. As a consequence, the dumping of such materials is prohibited. The Convention is applicable to wastes from land-based sources that are loaded onto ships for the deliberate purpose of dumping them at sea and to dredged spoils. It should be noted that the Convention does not address wastes that have been generated during the normal operation of ships. http:/www.londonconvention.org The Law of the Sea Convention 1982 establishes general rights and obligations for the ocean, including protection of the marine environment. It provides that all States have a duty to protect and preserve the marine environment, including rare and fragile ecosystems and species habitats. This duty extends to all forms and sources of pollution, including marine debris and derelict fishing gear. Those engaged in commercial and recreational fishing and coastal States must cooperate to conserve living marine resources, including fish, marine mammals and endangered and threatened species. http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_conventio n.htm The Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA) is an elaboration of the general provisions of the Law of the Sea Convention applicable to high seas fishing for straddling stocks and highly migratory species such as tuna. It supports ML prevention efforts by providing that States are under the obligation to minimize pollution, wastes, discards and catches by lost or abandoned gear. It also requires that states minimize impacts on species associated with targeted fish, particularly endangered and threatened species. http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_fish_stoc ks.htm The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) provides a comprehensive approach to dealing with ocean dumping by creating international guidelines for pollution prevention from ships. There are six annexes associated with MARPOL: Annex I - Discharge of oil; Annex II -Control of hazardous liquids; Annex III-Transport of hazardous materials in a packaged form; Annex IV - Discharge of sewage; Annex V - Disposal of plastics and garbage (bans all dumping of plastics into the oceans); and Annex VI - Air pollution. http://www.imo.org/ Annex V of MARPOL prohibits ocean dumping of all ship-generated plastics and regulates the dumping of other garbage. Annex V is of particular importance to the maritime transport community (shippers, oil platforms, fishers, recreational boaters and cruise lines) as it prohibits the disposal of plastic at sea and regulates the disposal of other types of garbage at sea. Under Annex V of the Convention, garbage includes all kinds of food, domestic and operational waste, excluding fresh fish, generated during the normal operation of the vessel and liable to be disposed of continuously or periodically. This annex also requires ports and terminals to provide garbage reception facilities for boats. As of January 2008, 136 countries have ratified Annex V controlling the disposal of plastics and garbage into the oceans. http://www.imo.org/Conventions/contents.asp?doc_id=678&topic_id=258 “Special Areas” are designated by MARPOL Annex V as locations where, due to the site’s unique oceanographic, ecological, or traffic conditions all overboard discharges of garbage (except ground-up food wastes) are prohibited. Food wastes may not be discharged within 12 nautical miles of the nearest land in Special Areas. To date MARPOL has designated nine Special Areas: Mediterranean Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden, North Sea, Antarctic area, and the Wider Caribbean (including the Gulf of Mexico). http://www.imo.org/Environment/mainframe.asp?topic_id=760 Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel Convention) was adopted in Basel (Switzerland) in March 1989 and entered into force in May 1992. The Basel Convention addresses the problems and challenges posed by transboundary movements, and the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and other wastes. Per the Convention, any hazardous marine litter from land-based sources would fall under the scope of this instrument as would other categories of wastes requiring special handling, such as household wastes. It should be noted that solid plastics wastes would not normally be considered under this Convention unless it exhibits any hazardous characteristics. http://www.basel.int/index.html The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing is a guidance document, stating that fishing should be conducted in accordance with International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) requirements (e.g., MARPOL Annex V) to protect the marine environment and prevent loss of fishing gear and supports program efforts to address marine litter issues related to fishing activities. http://www.fao.org/fi/agreem/codecond/codecon.asp Other international and regional conventions and agreements supporting the ML initiative Marine litter abatement and control can also be addressed through other instruments that are related to the resources that are affected by marine litter. The current challenge that is plaguing governmental organizations and civil society is how to apply these various outlets to help address ML issues as part of a broader campaign for environmental protection, development and resource management efforts. The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA) is a non-binding global agreement, which reflects the resolve of States to address the serious impacts of land-based sources of pollution and physical degradation of the coastal and marine environments. The GPA aims at preventing the degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities by facilitating the realization of the duty of States to preserve and protect the marine environment. Marine litter is one the nine source categories identified by the GPA and it has recommended that States identify and assess problems related to severity and impacts of these contaminants. (www.gpa.unep.org) Agenda 21 is the comprehensive plan for global, national and local action by organizations of the United Nations system, governments, and major groups in every area in which human activity impacts the environment. Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 deals with the protection of the oceans, all kinds of seas (including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their living resources). Chapter 18 deals with freshwater (including the management of rivers and lakes). Chapter 21 deals with solid waste ("all domestic refuse and non-hazardous wastes such as commercial and institutional wastes, street sweepings and construction debris. In some countries, the solid wastes management system also handles human wastes. Environmentally sound waste management is concerned not just with safe disposal or recovery but also with the root cause of the problem, such as unsustainable production and consumption patterns"). http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/english/agenda21toc.htm With the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002), issues related to the protection of the marine environment are included in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in 2002. Paragraph 22 deals with prevention and minimization of waste and maximization of reuse, recycling and use of environmentally friendly alternative materials, in order to minimize adverse effects on the environment and improve resource efficiency. Paragraph 32 deals with land-based sources stating that the implementation of the UNEP GPA should be advanced. Paragraph 33 deals with marine pollution from shipping stating that relevant international conventions should be ratified and implemented.(http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/P OI_PD.htm#1/#1/) The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS, Bonn Convention, 1979) is an environmental treaty under the aegis of the United Nations that provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and the places where they live. The Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding related to many protected species (e.g. water birds, sea turtles, cetaceans, dugongs, and monk seals) support conservation efforts related to species interactions with various forms of marine litter, especially derelict and discarded fishing gear. http://www.cms.int/ The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992) concerns the protection, management and sustainable use of the biodiversity in general, and its subsidiary programme called “Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity” (1995; work program – 1998, updated in 2004) and is concentrated on relevant issues in the marine and coastal environment, including some ML-related aspects such as: the smothering of the seabed; effects of entanglement and ingestion of litter on fish, marine mammals and seabirds; dissemination of alien species (ML as a vector for transport of invasive species). http://www.cbd.int/convention/articles.asp Regional Fishery Management Organizations (RFMOs) regulate fishing for fish species such as tuna in the various ocean regions. The Fish Stock Agreement provides that States acting through RFMOs have a duty to cooperate to conserve living marine resources, including the duty to adopt and apply generally recommended international minimum standards for the conduct of responsible fishing operations (e.g., the FAO Code of Conduct). In addition, the treaties creating two RFMOs contain specific obligations to minimize fishing by lost or abandoned gear. http://www.oceansatlas.org/cds_static/en/regional_fishery_organizations__en_2940_ all_1.html