Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son signs the United Nations agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (the High Seas Treaty)(Photo: VNA) The signing of the agreement conveyed the message that Vietnamis a positive and responsible member of the international community as well asthe country’s efforts to join hands with countries to deal with global issues,contributing to peace, prosperity and sustainable development.
More than 60 countries are scheduled to sign the agreementduring the underway high-level week of the 78th UN General Assembly.
The ratification and signing of the deal is a historicalmilestone in the international community’s efforts in environmental protection during the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, especially the goal No.14 on preservationand sustainable use of oceans and maritime resources.
This is the third agreement negotiated and signed within theframework of the 1982 UNCLOS, reaffirming the role and importance of the conventionas a legal framework for all activities at sea and in oceans.
The High Sea Treaty regulates the exploitation, sharing ofbenefits and conservation of marine genetic resources in international waters.This is a new potential resource, belonging to large sea areas accounting formore than 60% of the surface area of the oceans that do not belong to anycountry. Many areas at the bottom of the oceans have exceptionally richecosystems, with many rare and precious genes of high value for scientificresearch and great economic potential, especially in pharmaceutical andcosmetic production.
Currently, only developed countries and private companiespossessing leading marine technologies and biotechnologies, with abundant financialresources, are capable of collecting marine genetic resources and developingapplications that bring profits, while there is no international documentregulating the obligation to share benefits and conserve these resources.
Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s resident correspondents in New York, Son said the signing of the treatyis an important milestone, as this is one of international treaties that draw the greatest attention in the past decade.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son speaks to Vietnam News Agency's correspondent in New York following the signing of the High Seas Treaty (Photo: VNA) At the same time, in recent years, the internationalcommunity's awareness and concern for ocean issues and maritime law isincreasing, especially in the context of depletion of marine resources due tooverexploitation and negative impacts of environmental pollution and climatechange, he noted.
The signing of the agreement is the result of long-termefforts by the international community, a nearly two-decade process withofficial negotiations beginning in 2018 with the participation of almost all UNmember countries, including landlocked nations or non-signatories of the UNCLOS.The minister said that the approval of the treaty by consensus last June, and thefact that a large number of participating countries signed it right on theopening day demonstrated the success of the negotiation process, describing itas a historic milestone in efforts of the international community to protectthe marine environment.
The agreement has opened up opportunities for developingcountries to access, participate in research and benefit from genetic resourcesin international waters, while reaffirming the role and importance of the 1982 UNCLOS as a legal framework for all activities on the seas and oceans.
As a coastal country with high awareness of the importance ofoceans to the national construction and defence, Vietnam has joined thenegotiations on the agreement right from the beginning.
For Vietnam, the agreement has many important meanings,stated the minister, underlining that the pact continues to strengthen thesystem of legal documents based on the 1982 UNCLOS in the management of seasand oceans towards the goal of sustainable development. It reaffirms the 1982 UNCLOSas the legal framework for all activities at sea. All maritime claims must notharm the common interests of the international community. The scope ofinternational waters, where marine living resources belong to all humanity,must be determined through and in accordance with 1982 UNCLOS, he stressed.
The agreement opens up opportunities for Vietnam and otherdeveloping countries to participate in scientific research, transfer marinetechnologies, and receive economic benefits shared by other countries which have greateradvantages in marine technology and strong financial science and technologyto exploit genetic resources in the high seas.
The agreement also creates and encourages internationalcooperation mechanisms and regional marine cooperation with the goal ofpreserving and sharing benefits from marine genetic resources, which bringsopportunities for Vietnam to promote cooperation, strengthen the intertwiningof interests, and contribute to protecting the homeland early and from afar.
At the same time, Vietnam’s early joining of the agreement’snegotiations and contributions to the building of the agreement help the countryrealise its strategy on actively and responsibly participating in solvinginternational and regional issues related to seas and oceans, as well as itspolicy of playing a core, leading, and mediating role at multilateral forums ofstrategic importance, which is stated in Directive 25 of theParty Central Committee’s Secretariat on enhancing the country’s multilateraldiplomacy until 2030, Son said./.
VNA
