Annex I

Hazardous Substances and Matter

1. Organohalogen compounds, e.g. DDT, DDE, DDD, PCB's.

2. Mercury and mercury compounds.

3. Cadmium and cadmium compounds.

4. Organotin compounds.

5. Persistent synthetic matter which may float, sink or remain in suspension.

6. Used lubricating oils.

7. Lead and lead compounds.

8. Radioactive substances and wastes, including used radioactive fuel.

9. Crude oil and hydrocarbons of any origin.

Annex II

Noxious Substances

The following substances, compounds or matter have been selected mainly on the basis of criteria used in Annex I, while taking into account the fact that they are less harmful or more readily rendered harmless by natural processes.

The control and strict limitation of the dumping of the substances referred to in this Annex shall be implemented in accordance with Annex III of this Protocol.

1. Biocides and their derivatives not covered in Annex I.

2. Cyanides, fluorides, and elemental phosphorus.

3. Pathogenic micro-organisms.

4. Nonbiodegradable detergents and their surface-active substances.

5. Alkaline or acid compounds.

6. Substances which, though of a non-toxic nature, may become harmful to the marine biota owing to the quantities in which they are discharged e.g. inorganic phosphorus, nitrogen, organic matter and other nutrient compounds. Also substances which have an adverse effect on the oxygen content of the marine environment.

Annex III

In issuing permits for dumping at sea, the following factors shall be considered:

A. CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPOSITION OF THE MATTER

1. Amount of matter to be dumped (e.g. per year).

2. Average composition of the matter to be dumped.

3. Properties: physical (e.g. solubility, density), chemical and biochemical (e.g. oxygen demand, nutrients), biological (e.g. presence of bacteria, etc.).

The data should include sufficient information on the annual mean levels and seasonal variations of the mentioned properties.

4. Long-term toxicity.

5. Persistence: physical, chemical, biological.

6. Accumulation and transformation in the marine environment.

7. Susceptibility to physical, chemical and biochemical changes and interaction with other dissolved matter.

8. Probability of inducing effects which would reduce the marketability of resources (e.g. fish, shellfish).

B. CHARACTERISTICS OF DUMPING SITE AND DISPOSAL METHOD

1. Location (e.g. co-ordinates of the dumping area, depth and distance from the coast) and its relation to areas of special interest (e.g. amenity areas, spawning, nursery and fishing grounds).

2. Methods and technologies of packaging and disposal of matter.

3. Dispersal characteristics.

4. Hydrological characteristics and seasonal variations in these characteristics (e.g. temperature, pH, salinity, stratification, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, nutrients, productivity).

5. Bottom characteristics (e.g. topography, geochemical, geological and biological productivity).

6. Cases and effects of other dumping.

C. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

1. Possible effects on amenities (e.g. floating or stranded matter, water turbidity, objectionable odour, discoloration, and foaming).

2. Possible effects on marine life, fish stocks, mari-cultures areas, traditional fishing grounds, seaweed harvesting and cultivation sites.

3. Possible effects on other uses of the sea (e.g. impairment of water quality for industrial use, underwater corrosion of structures, interference with vessel operations or fishing due to floating matter or through deposit of wastes or objects on the sea bed, and difficulties in protecting areas of special interest for scientific research or protection of nature).

4. Practical availability of alternative land disposal methods.

Convention for the Protection of the

Marine Environment of the
North-East Atlantic, Paris, 1992

Done at Paris 22 September 1992

Not in force*

Depositary: France

Primary source citation: Copy of text provided by the
U.S. Department of State

CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE MARINE
ENVIRONMENT OF THE NORTH-EAST ATLANTIC

THE CONTRACTING PARTIES,

RECOGNISING that the marine environment and the fauna and flora which it supports are of vital importance to all nations;

RECOGNISING the inherent worth of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic and the necessity for providing coordinated protection for it;

RECOGNISING that concerted action at national, regional and global levels is essential to prevent and eliminate marine pollution and to achieve sustainable management of the maritime area, that is, the management of human activities in such a manner that the marine ecosystem will continue to sustain the legitimate uses of the sea and will continue to meet the needs of present and future generations;

MINDFUL that the ecological equilibrium and the legitimate uses of the sea are threatened by pollution; CONSIDERING the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in June 1972;

CONSIDERING also the results of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992;

RECALLING the relevant provisions of customary international law reflected in Part XII of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention and, in particular, Article 197 on global and regional cooperation for the protection and preservation of the marine environment;

CONSIDERING that the common interests of States concerned with the same marine area should induce them to cooperate at regional or sub-regional levels;

*Upon entry into force, this Convention will replace the 1972 Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft (see Volume II, page 1808) and the 1974 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-Based Sources (see Volume II, page 2131).

RECALLING the positive results obtained within the context of the Convention for the prevention of marine pollution by dumping from ships and aircraft signed in Oslo on 15th February 1972, as amended by the protocols of 2nd March 1983 and 5th December 1989, and the Convention for the prevention of marine pollution from land-based sources signed in Paris on 4th June 1974, as amended by the protocol of 26th March 1986;

CONVINCED that further international action to prevent and eliminate pollution of the sea should be taken without delay, as part of progressive and coherent measures to protect the marine environment;

RECOGNISING that it may be desirable to adopt, on the regional level, more stringent measures with respect to the prevention and elimination of pollution of the marine environment or with respect to the protection of the marine environment against the adverse effects of human activities than are provided for in international conventions or agreements with a global scope;

RECOGNISING that questions relating to the management of fisheries are appropriately regulated under international and regional agreements dealing specifically with such questions;

CONSIDERING that the present Oslo and Paris Conventions do not adequately control some of the many sources of pollution, and that it is therefore justifiable to replace them with the present Convention, which addresses all sources of pollution of the marine environment and the adverse effects of human activities upon it, takes into account the precautionary principle and strengthens regional cooperation;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

ARTICLE 1
DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of the Convention:

(a)

"Maritime area" means the internal waters and the territorial seas of the Contracting Parties, the sea beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea under the jurisdiction of the coastal state to the extent recognised by international law, and the high seas, including the bed of all those waters and its sub-soil, situated within the following limits:

(i) those parts of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and their dependent seas which lie north of 36° north latitude and between 42° west longitude and 51° east longitude, but excluding:

(1)

the Baltic Sea and the Belts lying to the south and east of lines drawn from Hasenore Head to Gniben Point, from Korshage to Spodsbjerg and from Gilbjerg Head to Kullen,

(2)

the Mediterranean Sea and its dependent seas as far as the point of intersection of the parallel of 36° north latitude and the meridian of 5° 36′ west longitude;

(ii)

that part of the Atlantic Ocean north of 59° north latitude and between 44° west longitude and 42° west longitude.

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

"Internal waters" means the waters on the landward side of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, extending in the case of watercourses up to the freshwater limit.

"Freshwater limit" means the place in a watercourse where, at low tide and in a period of low freshwater flow, there is an appreciable increase in salinity due to the presence of seawater.

"Pollution" means the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the maritime area which results, or is likely to result, in hazards to human health, harm to living resources and marine ecosystems, damage to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of the sea.

"Land-based sources" means point and diffuse sources on land from which substances or energy reach the maritime area by water, through the air, or directly from the coast. It includes sources associated

(f)

with any deliberate disposal under the sea-bed made accessible from land by tunnel, pipeline or other means and sources associated with man-made structures placed, in the maritime area under the jurisdiction of a Contracting Party, other than for the purpose of offshore activities.

(g)

(i)

(h)

(i)

(j)

(k)

(1)

(m)

(n)

(ii)

(iii)

the disposal in accordance with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, or other applicable international law, of wastes or other matter incidental to, or derived from, the normal operations of vessels or aircraft or offshore installations other than wastes or other matter transported by or to vessels or aircraft or offshore installations for the purpose of disposal of such wastes or other matter or derived from the treatment of such wastes or other matter on such vessels or aircraft or offshore installations;

placement of matter for a purpose other than the mere disposal thereof, provided that, if the placement is for a purpose other than that for which the matter was originally designed or constructed, it is in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention; and

for the purposes of Annex III, the leaving wholly or partly in place of a disused offshore installation or disused offshore pipeline, provided that any such operation takes place in accordance with any relevant provision of the Convention and with other relevant international law.

"Incineration" means any deliberate combustion of wastes or other matter in the maritime area for the purpose of their thermal destruction.

"Incineration" does not include the thermal destruction of wastes or other matter in accordance with applicable international law incidental to, or derived from the normal operation of vessels or aircraft, or offshore installations other than the thermal destruction of wastes or other matter on vessels or aircraft or offshore installations operating for the purpose of such thermal destruction.

"Offshore activities" means activities carried out in the maritime area for the purposes of the exploration, appraisal or exploitation of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.

"Offshore sources" means offshore installations and offshore pipelines from which substances or energy reach the maritime area.

"Offshore installation" means any man-made structure, plant or vessel or parts thereof, whether floating or fixed to the seabed, placed within the maritime area for the purpose of offshore activities.

"Offshore pipeline" means any pipeline which has been placed in the maritime area for the purpose of offshore activities.

"Vessels or aircraft" means waterborne or airborne craft of any type whatsoever, their parts and other fittings. This expression includes air-cushion craft, floating craft whether self-propelled or not, and other