Mr Co-Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia and the associated countries Cyprus and Malta align themselves with this statement.
"Acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships represent a serious threat to the lives of seafarers, the safety of navigation, the marine environment and the security of coastal states. They also impact negatively on the entire maritime transport industry, leading, for example, to increases in insurance rates and even the suspension of trade." The quotation comes from the unedited text of the UN report on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, to be considered at the 56th session of the General Assembly.
It describes in two sentences why piracy and armed robbery against ships constitute a problem.
Statistics from the International Maritime Organisation shows that the number of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships that occurred in 2000, as reported to the Organisation, was 471. That is an increase of 162 (52%) over the figure for 1999.
Piracy and armed robbery against ships simply makes our common maritime area for transport – the seas – an unsafe area to use.
They bring about and encourage lawlessness.
They either threaten to undermine coastal states' authority in the coastal state's own territory, or
they threaten to undermine an effective global management of a global common.
They make the environment in which the crews work unsafe.
They are often a threat to the environment.
They are simply a destabilising factor that needs to be combated!
Piracy is a crime under international law. Other acts, such as unlawful acts against the safety of maritime navigation, including armed robbery against ships, are prohibited in recent treaties. Piracy and armed robbery against ships are very often also crimes under national law. The international community as a whole has an interest in preventing and in combating such crimes. Although it is possible to assume that the flag state, the coastal state, the port state and the state of which the pirates or criminals are nationals, have a particular responsibility to combat piracy and armed robbery, preventing and combating piracy has been an obligation of all states for centuries. Article 100 of UNCLOS clearly reiterates that all states have a duty to co-operate for the repression of piracy.
Ships of all states enjoy the right of innocent passage, transit passage and archipelagic sea-lanes passage in areas under the sovereignty of a coastal state. It is clear that armed robbery against ships seriously threatens these fundamental rights.
It is, and it should remain, the prerogative of the coastal state to exercise control over its territory. The coastal states have a special responsibility to fight criminal acts in their territory. It is therefore extremely important that the coastal states concerned are encouraged to take this problem seriously, especially considering that most attacks occur within their sea territory, i.e. including internal waters and ports. However, this requires knowledge and resources.
There is a proliferation of regional and global governmental and non-governmental organisations that at various levels deal with the issue of piracy and armed robbery against ships, for example the International Maritime Organisation, (IMO), INTERPOL, the International Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC-IMB), the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI), the International Group of P & I Clubs (IGP & I) and numbers of others.
The International Maritime Organisation plays a vital role and the organisation should remain a focal point when it comes to combating piracy. The organisation has addressed the problem since 1983, when it was 'reintroduced' on the international agenda. Since then a number of committees of the IMO have taken measures to address the problem, e.g. the Maritime Safety Committee, the Legal Committee and the Marine Environment Protection Committee.
The Maritime Safety Committee has approved for circulation a Code of Practice for the Investigation of the Crimes of Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships, pending its adoption by the IMO Assembly in November 2001. The IMO Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation has recently prepared a resolution in order to prevent registration of so-called phantom ships that will be presented for adoption at the IMO Assembly in November 2001.
The series of regional workshops initiated by the IMO in October 1998 in Singapore and concluded in Mumbai, India, in March 2000 have already produced positive results. Let me just mention one example, namely the problem of underreporting. Since the IMO stressed the need for all incidents to be reported there has been an increase in reports. This, in turn, helps us to get a clearer picture of the problem.
Impressive regional efforts have been made in order to combat piracy. The initiatives taken by Japan, India and Malaysia, e.g. within the Japan-Asean Summit and other meetings are commendable, as is the initiative to hold combined anti-piracy exercises with other countries in the region.
States have now decided to bring up the matter in the oceans consultative process. The EU member states recognise the importance of the fact that the matter is brought up within the context of this process and welcome the inclusion on the agenda of piracy and armed robbery against ships. It is logical to discuss the matter in this context, not least since the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for the rights and duties of all states in respect of acts of piracy.
There is a need for all UN agencies and international bodies to co-ordinate responses to the threat of piracy and armed robbery against ships. The matter is of concern to the IMO, the World Bank, to UNEP, to international police agencies – just to mention a few.
It is important that states become parties to the relevant international treaties in this field, namely the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea; 1988 Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and its Protocol on Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf; and the UN Convention on Combating Organised Crime.
Unfortunately, this is not enough. States should also be encouraged to enact and enforce national legislation for effective implementation and enforcement of these conventions. Perhaps all states ought to review their national legislation and practice to see if they fully reflect the rights and duties embedded in these conventions.
It is, furthermore, important that the coastal states concerned make an increased effort to prevent and combat piracy and armed robbery. This should be done both by addressing the question of preventive measures to be taken in ports and handling of reports from ships that are being attacked or have been attacked. In doing so they may seek guidance in the guidelines developed by both IMO and non-governmental organisations.
It is also essential that those flag states whose ships are sailing in waters affected by crimes at sea, and who are the targets of piracy attacks or armed robbery, make an increased effort to advise their ships on how to take precautions against these attacks. Guidance in these matters may also be found in the guidelines developed by IMO.
But this is still not enough. Piracy is an international crime that by definition can only be committed outside of the territory of a state. Sometimes piratical acts are better described as internationally organised crime. This is particularly true in cases, which involve 'phantom ships'. It is also an indication of the fact that a crime must not be treated in isolation.
It is therefore of the utmost importance that co-operation between states and relevant international bodies is encouraged. We need a global management regime and we need to make sure that measures taken by individual states are consistently enforced within the framework of international law. The World Bank and regional bodies and states should support these measures.
The IMO should be recognised as the international organisation that has the primary mandate to globally deal with the problem of piracy. At the same time, regional initiatives and activities, such as the discussion in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) should be strongly encouraged.
Experience has also shown that the coastal states concerned may benefit from entering into regional co-operation. Specific areas for co-operation could include capacity building in law enforcement and legislation, development of standard reporting procedures, development of both global and regional information bases and co-operation between coast guards.
Co-operation and the building of networks can also be achieved through other measures. A number of reports have shown that law enforcement officials and policy-makers from affected areas need education, and need to exchange information on experience. There is one institution that seems apt to provide a forum for such measures namely, the United Nations' World Maritime University, which is a university, established under the auspices of the IMO.
At present, the World Maritime University gives lectures on piracy in some of its courses. However, the WMU could do something on a wider scale, perhaps a weeklong seminar, to which representatives from, for example, other UN bodies such as IMO could be invited to give presentations. An alternative might be to develop and deliver education on piracy matters as a "Professional Development Course (PDC)" and invite all Maritime Administrations around the world to participate. The courses could also include training of investigators of piracy and armed robbery against vessels. Such a course could also serve as an international contact point for representatives from those different regions in the world that are most affected by piracy.
The EU member states suggest that the WMU should be asked whether it would be possible for the WMU to serve as a focal educational point and to commence a more organised education on the issue of piracy and armed robbery against ships.
Let me also take the opportunity to say a few words about the work of the Comité Maritime International.
In February 2001, the Assembly of the Comité Maritime International adopted a resolution (at the XXXVII International Conference of the CMI) encouraging the Executive Council to transmit the so-called Model National Law to the Secretary-General of the IMO with a request for endorsement by the IMO Assembly.
It is, of course, to be welcomed that piracy and armed robbery against ships is now gaining more and more attention. The work by the CMI should be honoured. Piracy is a truly global problem and it cuts across all sectors of society; from political to commercial, from state actors to individuals. At the same time there is a risk, given the number of fora in which piracy and armed robbery against ships is discussed, that the problem is dealt with in disparate ways and not in a particularly organised and consistent manner. The attempts to define criminal acts against ships not included in the definition of piracy in UNCLOS, is one example that needs to be discussed.
The EU member states believe that the only viable way to prevent and to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea goes through co-operation and capacity-building. Moreover, the private sector should be even further associated, as appropriate, to the efforts developed by the international community.
Such co-operation should include capacity-building in law enforcement, legislation, development of both regional and global information bases, regional exchanges on law enforcement and coast guard training.
The EU would like to express its concern over the current underreporting of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships. It is important that all incidents are reported. In this context we note that there has been an increase in reporting and that it is welcome (although the incidents themselves are not). The IMO should be a focal point when receiving reports. The recording and initial examination of reports should be made by the IMO since the IMO is an intergovernmental organisation with international credibility also within the private sector. Furthermore, it is essential that all states support the initiatives taken by the IMO to prevent and combat piracy and armed robbery against ships, thereby maintaining focus on this very serious problem. The WMU should be asked to bear responsibility for the development of international education and training.
Piracy and armed robbery against ships can constitute an environmental hazard.
It is therefore important that regional emergency plans be developed.
The IMO and other organisations strongly discourage the carrying and use of firearms on board merchant vessels, and the EU supports this point of view. However, when the vessels do not carry firearms on board, the states must take their responsibility to patrol areas in which incidents are most likely to occur, and to act against the criminals. This is indeed a costly business and the lack of capacity and funds to tackle it needs to be examined and discussed, as does the matter of what could be done to build up capacity.
There are also other issues that need to be discussed, such as the need for maritime areas to be properly charted, how far an obligation for a ship to carry an Automatic Identification System (AIS) can curb criminality, and if smoother exchange control restrictions would be of help.
The EU member states are willing and prepared to commence a discussion on what measures could be taken. We look forward to a strong statement in the report of this meeting to UNGA on the importance of preventing and combating piracy, suggesting measures and decisions that could be reviewed at future meetings of the oceans consultative process and by the General Assembly. Piracy and armed robbery against ships are matters for the international community as a whole.
Thank you, Mr Co-Chairman.