1 Introduction
An interesting aspect of Brazilian foreign policy on oceanic matters concerns the
advancement of territorial positions before, during and after the III United Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea, at the end of which the 1982 Convention was
signed. Prior to the adoption of the Convention, the customary ordre publique
océanique was unjust to the needs of developing nations, at a time when industrialized countries dominated the oceans’ common spaces based on technological and
military superiority, legally supported by the mare liberum principle. Thus, Latin
American coastal States, in a relatively well-organized manner, urged for the
expansion of coastal State jurisdiction over larger maritime zones from the shore.
1
In this context, Brazil joined the Latin American States on the eve of the Third
Conference, promoting the cause of enhanced coastal State jurisdiction seaward, to
the extent of being considered the “leader of territorialists”
2
—largely due to the
unilateral establishment of a 200-mile territorial sea in 1970.
3 Since then, and in
particular since the entry into force of the UNCLOS, Brazil has maintained what can
be described as a “territorialist approach” towards the ocean, in which it seizes
positions where the blackletter of the law is vague and blurred, so as to advance the
interests of a developing coastal State. Brazilian territorialism manifested itself, for
instance, by supporting the creation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the
continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (nm) and, more recently, through the
promotion of maritime strategies and national projects, such as the Brazilian Continental Shelf Survey Plan (LEPLAC) and the effort to inhabit islands farther off the
coast on a permanent basis, such as the São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago.
The Archipelago is a set of small rocky formations of approximately 17,000 m
2 ,
almost inhospitable to human life, lying approximately 1010 km northeast to the city
of Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The country has exercised
undisputed sovereignty over them since the Sixteenth century and began to use the
islands strategically in the first half of the 1900s.
Upon the entry into force of UNCLOS, Brazil voluntarily accepted a new
normative order for the oceans, which also included a new regime for islands,
regulated by Article 121 of the Convention. Moreover, in 1996 the country launched
the PROARQUIPÉLAGO, a Program which officially labelled the rocky islands an
“archipelago” and whose main objective was to adjust the islands to the new
1 This account is well-known among international lawyers. In any case, for further information on
the Latin American contribution to the “rise” of coastal States, see García-Amador (1974) and
Vargas (1982).
2 Kwiatkowska (1991), p. 163.
3 Decree-law 1.098 of March 25, 1970; approved by Congress by means of legislative Decree 31 of
May 27, 1970.
264
V. Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura and E. Cavalcanti Mello Filho
An interesting aspect of Brazilian foreign policy on oceanic matters concerns the
advancement of territorial positions before, during and after the III United Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea, at the end of which the 1982 Convention was
signed. Prior to the adoption of the Convention, the customary ordre publique
océanique was unjust to the needs of developing nations, at a time when industrialized countries dominated the oceans’ common spaces based on technological and
military superiority, legally supported by the mare liberum principle. Thus, Latin
American coastal States, in a relatively well-organized manner, urged for the
expansion of coastal State jurisdiction over larger maritime zones from the shore.
1
In this context, Brazil joined the Latin American States on the eve of the Third
Conference, promoting the cause of enhanced coastal State jurisdiction seaward, to
the extent of being considered the “leader of territorialists”
2
—largely due to the
unilateral establishment of a 200-mile territorial sea in 1970.
3 Since then, and in
particular since the entry into force of the UNCLOS, Brazil has maintained what can
be described as a “territorialist approach” towards the ocean, in which it seizes
positions where the blackletter of the law is vague and blurred, so as to advance the
interests of a developing coastal State. Brazilian territorialism manifested itself, for
instance, by supporting the creation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the
continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (nm) and, more recently, through the
promotion of maritime strategies and national projects, such as the Brazilian Continental Shelf Survey Plan (LEPLAC) and the effort to inhabit islands farther off the
coast on a permanent basis, such as the São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago.
The Archipelago is a set of small rocky formations of approximately 17,000 m
2 ,
almost inhospitable to human life, lying approximately 1010 km northeast to the city
of Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The country has exercised
undisputed sovereignty over them since the Sixteenth century and began to use the
islands strategically in the first half of the 1900s.
Upon the entry into force of UNCLOS, Brazil voluntarily accepted a new
normative order for the oceans, which also included a new regime for islands,
regulated by Article 121 of the Convention. Moreover, in 1996 the country launched
the PROARQUIPÉLAGO, a Program which officially labelled the rocky islands an
“archipelago” and whose main objective was to adjust the islands to the new
1 This account is well-known among international lawyers. In any case, for further information on
the Latin American contribution to the “rise” of coastal States, see García-Amador (1974) and
Vargas (1982).
2 Kwiatkowska (1991), p. 163.
3 Decree-law 1.098 of March 25, 1970; approved by Congress by means of legislative Decree 31 of
May 27, 1970.
264
V. Alencar Mayer Feitosa Ventura and E. Cavalcanti Mello Filho