STATEMENT BY MR MARK NEO, DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 75: OCEANS AND THE LAW OF THE SEA, 11 DECEMBER 2012

Mr President,

                My delegation is pleased to address the General Assembly on agenda item 75, “Oceans and the law of the sea”.  We thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive reports on Oceans and the Law of the Sea and on Sustainable Fisheries, as contained in A/67/79 and its addendum, as well as A/67/315.  We also thank the co-ordinators of the two draft resolutions – Ambassador Eden Charles of Trinidad and Tobago and Ms. Alice Revell of New Zealand – for their able stewardship of the informal consultations.  We would also like to record our appreciation to the Director and staff of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, for their assistance and support on these drafts.

Mr President,

2                Yesterday, the General Assembly commemorated the 30^th Anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was opened for signature at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 10 December 1982.  Singapore is grateful that one of our very own, Ambassador Tommy Koh, was given the honour and privilege to preside over the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea from 1980 to 1982 – the process which gave birth to this “constitution of the oceans” that has stood the test of time for three decades. 

3                In many ways, UNCLOS created a new global order.  It struck a balance between increasing the jurisdictional claims of coastal states over adjacent sea areas and preserving the important rights of the international community in areas claimed by coastal states, including the freedom of navigation.  UNCLOS also entrenched the concept of the “common heritage of mankind” in international law, which safeguarded the collective rights of nations over parts of the oceans that were beyond claims that coastal states could legitimately make.  Just as important, UNCLOS established a comprehensive set of dispute settlement mechanisms which enabled states to resolve their differences peacefully through bilateral negotiations, arbitration or third-party adjudication.  This has helped to maintain peace, order and discipline in the governance of our oceans.  

4                My delegation welcomes the two new ratifications of the Convention during the period under review, bringing the total number of Parties to 164.  For the most part, the Convention already reflects customary international law.  However, we encourage the minority of non-party Member States to give serious consideration to accession, so that the Convention will achieve universal membership.

Mr President

5                Singapore is committed to the full and complete implementation of the law of the sea.  We are a small island nation strategically located at the junction of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and the South China Sea – the gateway between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.  We are also one of the three littoral States bordering the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.  For Singapore, whose total trade is three times our GDP, the freedom of navigation is of critical importance.   Today, 90 percent of global trade is carried by sea.  About half of that passes through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.    It is therefore in the interest of all States to continue to preserve the freedom of navigation and passage rights through these and other waters.  This is perhaps even more so in these uncertain economic times, as the freedom of navigation has a direct and tangible impact on global trade.

6                Undoubtedly, new possibilities and challenges have emerged since the adoption of UNCLOS 30 years ago.   New technologies have made possible the exploration and exploitation of resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction.  At the same time, increasing coastal populations have put pressure on coastal and marine ecosystems.  Some of these challenges may prompt fresh debate over the sufficiency or the proper application of UNCLOS.  The international community has to respond to these challenges in a way that not only maintains the balance of uses, but also the peaceful order in the oceans and seas that we have enjoyed.  We must resist the temptation to put undue emphasis on certain aspects of the Convention, which may be of keen national interest at a particular point of time, and risk reading into the Convention interpretations which the drafters never intended.

7                We must therefore remind ourselves that UNCLOS was drafted as a package and no selectivity should be exercised in its application.  It is critical to maintain the indivisibility of the Convention, which is the sole and overarching legal framework for the oceans and seas.   Some of the new challenges we face are explicitly dealt with in the Convention’s text.  Others are not.  But it is my delegation’s firm view that the Convention contains both the core set of principles that should be applied and the necessary scope for us to successfully address all emerging issues relating to the oceans and seas.

8                The international community reached an important and significant milestone on Sustainable Development in June this year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Our Leaders agreed to the Rio+20 Outcome – ‘The future we want’, which built on the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) and Agenda 21 (2002).  Incidentally, Ambassador Tommy Koh was also the Chair of the Preparatory Committee and the Main Committee for the Rio Earth Summit from 1990 to 1992.  At Rio in 2012, our Leaders committed to address, on an urgent basis, the issue of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction, including by taking a decision on the development of an international instrument under the Convention on the Law of the Sea.  Our Leaders also urged all parties to UNCLOS to fully implement their obligations under the Convention, recognising that we should be careful not to undermine freedom of navigation and other equally important interests.  It bears repeating that the careful compromises embodied in UNCLOS have served us well.  As the international community charts the future of our oceans, it is imperative that we do so without undermining the integrity of the Convention.

9                Thank you.

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