The Role of Reservations and Vetoes in Marine Conservation Agreements Howard S. Schiffman A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Professor Robin R. Churchill, Supervisor Cardiff Law School Cardiff University Submitted, July 3, 2006 \ ~ . lv UMI Number: U585553 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U585553 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 The Role of Reservations and Vetoes in Marine Conservation Agreements Howard S. Schiffman Contents Preface...................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................v List of Abbreviations ...........................................................................................viii Chapter 1 “Exemptive Provisions:” A Survey of the Issues in International Law 1 I. Introduction ............................................................................................. 1 A. Scope of Inquiry and Key Terminology.................................5 B. Thesis Objective and Questions to be Analyzed ................... 11 C. Methodologies ......................................................................... 12 II. The Law of the Sea as a Basis for Effective Marine Environmental Conservation ............................................................................................... 14 A. Historical Overview ................................................................ 14 B. Early Attempts at Codification of the Law of the Sea ...........18 C. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).........................................................................21 D. Treaties and their Mechanisms for Addressing Conservation and Utilization ....................................................................32 III. Exemptive Provisions in Treaty Law and Policy ................................. 34 A. General Reservations .................................................................34 1. The Value of Reservations ............................................. 36 2. The Genocide Case and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.............................................................40 3. The Requirement that Reservations be Consistent with the “Object and Purpose” of the Treaty.....................41 4. UNCLOS and Reservations ............................................ 49 B. Specific Reservations ..................................................................55 C. Veto Provisions ...........................................................................62 Chapter 2 A Review of Objections and Specific Reservations in Key Treaties................................................................................................. 72 I. The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) ..................... 73 II. International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).............................................................................................86 III. The Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)..................... 95 IV. The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) .......................................103 V. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) .........................................108 VI. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) ............................................................ 120 VII. The Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS or Bonn Convention) .................................................................................139 VIII. The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP).................................................................................................. 146 IX. The Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS).......................................................................................149 X. The Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) .............................................................. 153 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 155 Chapter 3 A Review of Veto Provisions in Key Treaties ................................................158 I. Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) ................................... 160 II. The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).................................................................................................. 170 III. The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) ........... 182 IV. The Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources in the Central Bering Sea (“Donut Hole Agreement”) ...................................................................... 197 V. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) .............................................................................205 VI. The South East Atlantic Fisheries Organization (SEAFO) ...........................225 VII. Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean .........................................................................................................234 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................244 Chapter 4 Legal Limitations to the Use of Exemptive Provisions .................................247 I. The “Object and Purpose” Requirement ......................................................... 248 II. The Precautionary Approach..........................................................................263 III. Duty to Base Decision-Making on the Best Scientific Evidence Available...................................................................................................274 IV. The Duty to Cooperate ..................................................................................277 V. Abuse of Rights .............................................................................................. 288 Conclusions ..........................................................................................................290 Chapter 5 Suggestions for Future Practice .......................................................................293 I. Lessons from Key Fishery Regimes ...............................................................295 A. ICCAT: the benefit o f reaffirming an objection ................................295 B. SEAFO: the benefit o f “reasons and review ”...................................296 C. Western and Central Pacific Treaty: the benefit o f seeking reconciliation .......................................................................................297 D. The Donut Hole Agreement: protecting the rights o f coastal states .................................................................................................... 298 II. Lessons from Human Rights Law .............................................................300 A. The Convention on the Elimination o f All Forms o f Racial Discrimination .................................................................................... 3 02 B. The Convention on the Elimination o f All Forms o f Discrimination Against Women ..........................................................304 C. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Human Rights Committee ......................................................306 III. A New Role for Scientific Committees: “Best Scientific Evidence” meets exemptive provisions ................................................................311 IV. The Value of Greater Transparency in the Decision-Making Process ..................................................................................................314 V. Invoke Dispute Settlement Mechanisms to Combat Abuses................................................................................................... 316 Chapter 6 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 319 Table of Treaties and Conventions ........................................................................... 326 Table of Judicial and Arbitral Decisions and Related Documents .......................329 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................330 Appendix (Summary Tables) ......................................................................................359 Table-1 (NAFO Objection Summary) ............................................................... 360 Table-2 (ICCAT Objection Summary) ..............................................................367