Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction

Parties with reservations, declarations and objections

Party	Reservations / Declarations	Objections
Chile	Yes	No
Federated States of Micronesia	Yes	No
France	Yes	No
Spain	Yes	No
Türkiye	Yes	No
United Kingdom	Yes	No

Chile

20-02-2024

The Republic of Chile declares that the provisions of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction shall be applied and interpreted in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. Therefore, the Republic of Chile understands that the Agreement is without prejudice to the sovereign rights, jurisdiction and powers of coastal States under the Convention.
For the purposes of the relationship between the Agreement and the Convention and other relevant legal instruments and frameworks and relevant global, regional, subregional and sectoral bodies, the Republic of Chile declares that the Agreement shall in no case undermine those legal instruments and frameworks, or said bodies, and that it shall pursue coherence and coordination with those instruments, legal frameworks and bodies, on the basis of a collaborative and non-prescriptive approach. The Republic of Chile therefore considers that an interpretation and application that does not undermine relevant legal instruments and frameworks and relevant global, regional, subregional and sectoral bodies, neither the establishment of general principles and approaches nor the strengthening and promotion of international cooperation, as provided for in articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Agreement, is essential to guiding the relationship between the Agreement and those instruments, legal frameworks and bodies.
Chile declares that the Agreement shall in no way undermine the legal regimes to which Chile is a party, such as, among others, the Antarctic Treaty and its related instruments in force (the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals, and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and its annexes), the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, the International Seabed Authority and the International Maritime Organization.
Pursuant to article 70 of the Agreement, no reservations or exceptions may be made to this Agreement. Therefore, declarations made by the parties in accordance with article 71 must not exclude or modify the legal effect of the provisions of the Agreement in respect of the party making such a declaration. The Republic of Chile declares that it shall not take into account or be bound in any way by declarations made regarding the Agreement by non-parties, or by declarations made by parties to the Agreement invoking article 70 which exclude or modify the effect of the provisions of the Agreement.
The Republic of Chile also reserves the right to adopt a formal position, at any time, on any declaration that may be made, or that has been made, by a non-party or by a party in relation to matters governed by the Agreement. Not adopting a position or not responding to a declaration by such States shall not be interpreted or invoked as tacit consent or approval of that declaration.
For the purposes of the Agreement, the Republic of Chile reaffirms the declaration it made upon ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 with regard to part XV of the Convention, on the settlement of disputes. The Republic of Chile reiterates that:
(a) In accordance with article 287 of the aforementioned 1982 Convention, it accepts, in order of preference, the following means for the settlement of disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the Agreement:
(i) The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea established in accordance with annex VI of the Convention;
(ii) A special arbitral tribunal, established in accordance with annex VIII of the Convention, for the categories of disputes specified therein relating to fisheries, protection and preservation of the marine environment, and marine scientific research and navigation, including pollution from vessels and by dumping;
(b) In accordance with articles 280 to 282 of the Convention, the choice of means for the settlement of disputes indicated in the preceding paragraph shall in no way affect the obligations deriving from the general, regional or bilateral agreements to which the Republic of Chile is a party concerning the peaceful settlement of disputes or containing provisions for the settlement of disputes;
(c) In accordance with article 298 of the Convention, Chile declares that it does not accept any of the procedures provided for in part XV, section 2, with respect to the disputes referred to in article 298, paragraphs 1 (a), (b) and (c), of the Convention.

Federated States of Micronesia

03-06-2024

The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia declares that its ratification of the Agreement shall in no way constitute a renunciation of any of its rights and entitlements under international law, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“Convention”).
In this connection, recognizing that areas beyond national jurisdiction are the scope of application of the Agreement and acknowledging that the Agreement defines areas beyond national jurisdiction to comprise the high seas and the Area, the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia affirms that the Convention imposes no affirmative obligation to keep baselines and outer limits of maritime zones under review nor to update charts or lists of geographical coordinates once deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations; and proclaims that the maritime zones of the Federated States of Micronesia, as established and notified to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with the Convention, and the rights and entitlements that flow from them, shall continue to apply, without reduction, notwithstanding any physical changes connected to climate change-related sea-level rise.
The identification of areas beyond national jurisdiction for the purposes of interpreting and implementing the Agreement must therefore be fully in accordance with the declarations made above by the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia.

France

05-02-2025

1. In accordance with article 70 and article 10, paragraph 1, of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, France hereby makes an exception to exclude retroactive application, as provided for in the second sentence of article 10, paragraph 1, such that the provisions of this Agreement, for France, apply only to activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction collected or generated after the entry into force of this Agreement for France.
2. With reference to article 71 of the Agreement, France wishes to reaffirm that it fully supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted on 13 September 2007, which is mentioned in the preamble to the Agreement. The Declaration represents the culmination of a long process marking a vital advance in the protection of the human rights of Indigenous and local populations.
With reference to the interpretive statement that it made at the time of adoption of the Declaration, France wishes to reaffirm that, by virtue of the constitutional principles of the indivisibility of the Republic, the unity of the French people and the equality of citizens before the law, all French citizens have the same rights and obligations under the Constitution, irrespective of their origin.
France is directly concerned with the populations of its overseas territorial communities and has established specific provisions in its national laws that are aligned with its constitutional principles.
France thus carries out programmes to support their economic and social development within a framework that is tailored to the specificities of those populations, which are holders of traditional knowledge, and to their cultural expression. Those specificities are reflected in Act No. 2016-1087 on the restoration of biodiversity, nature and the countryside, adopted on 8 August 2016, through which France meets its international obligations under the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Title V of the Act, on access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their utilization, enables France to honour in particular its obligations to protect the traditional knowledge held by local communities.
In order to ensure consistency with the laws in force and legal certainty for users, the provisions of the Agreement relating to the traditional knowledge held by local communities will be interpreted in a manner consistent with our constitutional principles.
3. With reference to article 60, paragraph 4, of the Agreement, France reaffirms the declaration that it made when it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning Part XV, on settlement of disputes:
“With reference to the provisions of article 298, paragraph 1, France does not accept any of the procedures provided for in Part XV, section 2, with respect to the following disputes:
- Disputes concerning the interpretation or application of articles 15, 74 and 83 relating to sea boundary delimitations, or those involving historic bays or titles;
- Disputes concerning military activities, including military activities by government vessels and aircraft engaged in non-commercial service, and disputes concerning law enforcement activities in regard to the exercise of sovereign rights or jurisdiction excluded from the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal under article 297, paragraph 2 or 3;
- Disputes in respect of which the Security Council of the United Nations is exercising the functions assigned to it by the Charter of the United Nations, unless the Security Council decides to remove the matter from its agenda or calls upon the parties to settle it by the means provided for in this Convention.”
4. With regard to the division of the competence of regional economic integration organizations and their member States in respect of the matters governed by this Agreement, France refers to the declaration of competence to be made by the European Union in accordance with article 67, paragraph 2, of the Agreement.

Spain

04-02-2025

In respect to paragraph 1 of article 10 on the application of the provisions of the Agreement to activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, the Kingdom of Spain declares, in accordance with the said paragraph 1 of article 10 and under article 70 on reservations and exceptions, that these provisions will not be applicable until the date of entry into force of the Agreement for Spain.

Türkiye

27-09-2024

… the signature, ratification, accession, acceptance or approval of the agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) by the Government of the Republic of Türkiye is without prejudice to the rights and interests of Türkiye as a non-party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS) and cannot be construed as a change in the legal position of Türkiye with regard to UNCLOS.
Recalling Türkiye’s statement made during the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Türkiye declares that there does not exist any group of people in its territory which could be considered as ‘indigenous peoples’ within the framework of the Agreement.
This declaration is without prejudice to additional declarations and/or reservations that may be made in the future by Türkiye.

United Kingdom

20-09-2023

In signing the Agreement, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the “United Kingdom”) recalls Article 71 of the Agreement and has the honour to convey the following declarations:
1. The United Kingdom welcomes the general obligation to interpret and apply the BBNJ Agreement in a manner that promotes coherence and coordination with and that does not undermine other relevant instruments, frameworks and global, regional, subregional and sectoral bodies. In this context, the United Kingdom notes that the Antarctic Treaty system comprehensively addresses the legal, political and environmental considerations unique to that region and provides a comprehensive framework for the international management of the Antarctic.
2. The United Kingdom notes references in paragraph 8 of the Preamble to “the existing rights of Indigenous Peoples, including as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or of, as appropriate, local communities,” and in Article 7(k) to “the rights of Indigenous Peoples or of, as appropriate, local communities”. The United Kingdom’s long-standing and well-established position, set out in its annual explanation of position at the UN General Assembly on the rights of indigenous people, is that human rights are held exclusively by individuals. With the exception of the right of self-determination (Common Article 1 of the two International Human Rights Covenants), the United Kingdom does not recognise collective human rights in international law. The United Kingdom consider this important in ensuring that individuals within groups are not left vulnerable or unprotected by allowing the rights of the groups to supersede the human rights of the individual. The United Kingdom therefore understands any internationally-agreed reference to the rights of indigenous peoples or local communities, including those in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and, in the Agreement signed today, to refer to those rights bestowed by governments at the national level. The United Kingdom further understands the term “local communities” to be used consistently with the way it is used in the Convention on Biological Diversity.