1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF), Report of the Conference of FAO, Twenty-Eighth Session, 20–31 October 1995, Annex 1 to the CCRF (Background to the Origin and Elaboration of the Code), also available at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/005/v9878e/v9878e00.pdf. General literature on the CCRF includes: Edeson, William, Closing the Gap: The Role of ‘Soft’ International Instruments to Control Fishing, 20 Australian Yearbook of International Law 83 (1999); Moore, Gerald, The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, in Developments in International Fisheries Law 85 (Ellen Hey ed., 1999).Google Scholar

2 FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2006 (2007), Part I, available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/A0699e/A0699e00.htm.Google Scholar

3 See Karen Kaiser, in this issue.Google Scholar

4 On the FAO in general Dobbert, Jean-Pierre, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in Encyclopedia of Public International Law, 413 (Rudolf Bernhardt ed., 1995).Google Scholar

5 Art. V para 6 FAO Constitution.Google Scholar

6 Rule III of the Rules of Procedure of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), available at: http://www.fao.org/Legal/index_en.htm.Google Scholar

7 In the case of Germany, this is the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.Google Scholar

8 Rule III of the Rules of Procedure of the COFI.Google Scholar

9 These are the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade and the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture. The power to establish sub-committees derives from Rule XXX para. 10 of the General Rules of the Organization, available at: http://www.fao.org/Legal/index_en.htm.Google Scholar

10 Similarly, albeit in a more general context, José Alvarez, International Organizations as Law-makers, 2005, 247; Anne-Marie Slaughter, A New World Order, 2004.Google Scholar

11 Art. V(5) FAO Constitution and Rule V of the Rules of Procedure of the COFI.Google Scholar

12 Art. VIII(2) FAO Constitution.Google Scholar

13 Art. IV(3) and (4) FAO Constitution.Google Scholar

14 Art. I(2)c) and d) FAO Constitution.Google Scholar

15 FAO Conference Res. 4/95 of 31 October 1995, para. 5, empowers the FAO “… to elaborate, as appropriate, technical guidelines in support of implementation of the Code.” Compare the Report of the Conference of FAO, Twenty-Eighth Session, 20–31 October 1995.Google Scholar

16 Edeson, William, The Role of Technical Bodies, in Developments of International Law in Treaty Making 63, 82 and 90 (Rüdiger Wolfrum & Volker Röben eds., 2005).Google Scholar

17 As of June 2007, 15 Technical Guidelines had been developed by or under the auspices of the Fisheries Department.Google Scholar

18 The Technical Guidelines on Marine Protected Areas are being developed by the FAO with the World Bank and the NGO International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).Google Scholar

19 This was the case for the development of the Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture.Google Scholar

20 FAO, Report of the Twenty-Sixth Session of the Committee on Fisheries, 7–11 March 2005, para. 103, available at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/a0008e/a0008e00.pdf.Google Scholar

21 Art. 1(1) CCRF; e.g. International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU), para. 4; Technical Guidelines usually include a preliminary phrase that they have “no formal legal status,” e.g. FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Development, 2007.Google Scholar

22 The potential of the CCRF to complement more limited fisheries instruments is emphasized by Edeson (note 1), 90.Google Scholar

23 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 10 December 1982, UNTS, Vol. 3, 1833.Google Scholar

24 Arts. 64, 118 and 197 UNCLOS.Google Scholar

25 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 December 1982, Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (Fish Stocks Agreement, FSA), 4 December 1995, UNTS, Vol. 88, 2167.Google Scholar

26 Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas (Compliance Agreement), 24 November 1993, UNTS, Vol. 148, 1860.Google Scholar

27 The FSA had been ratified by 65 States as of 1 March 2007. Important fishing nations such as China and Taiwan, Peru, Chile, Indonesia, Thailand, Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, Vietnam and Argentina are still missing. As of April 2007, only 35 States had ratified the Compliance Agreement.Google Scholar

28 This term can be understood as a reference to Taiwan, province of China, which is not recognised as a Member State.Google Scholar

29 Art. 1(2) CCRF.Google Scholar

30 Art. 1(2) CCRF.Google Scholar

31 Art. 1(3) CCRF.Google Scholar

32 Moore (note 1), at 96.Google Scholar

33 Philippe Sands, Principles of International Environmental Law 253 (2nd ed. 2003).Google Scholar

34 Arts. 2(a) and .6(1) CCRF.Google Scholar

35 Art. 6(5) CCRF.Google Scholar

36 The ecosystem approach is manifest in Arts. 6(1), (2),(3) and (8) CCRF.Google Scholar

37 Moore (note 1), at 98.Google Scholar

38 Arts. 7–12 CCRF.Google Scholar

39 Art. 6(5) CCRF.Google Scholar

40 Arts. 7(5.2) and (5.5) CCRF.Google Scholar

41 So far, four IPOAs have been developed. These are the IPOA for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries (IPOA-Seabirds), the IPOA for Conservation and Management Sharks (IPOA-Sharks) and the IPOA for the Management of Fishing Capacity (IPOA-Capacity), all adopted in 1999, and the IPOA-IUU, adopted in 2001. All IPOAs are available at: www.fao.org/fi.Google Scholar

42 IPOA-IUU, paras. 42–49.Google Scholar

43 IPOA-IUU, para. 25.Google Scholar

44 FAO, Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries, available at: www.fao.org.Google Scholar

45 Art. 12 CCRF.Google Scholar

46 All Technical Guidelines and Accompanying Supplements are available at: www.fao.org.Google Scholar

47 See FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries on Fishing Operations contain an Annex III which outlines a “Proposed System for the Marking of Fishing Gear.”Google Scholar

48 See “Compliance to FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries: Health management for responsible movement of live aquatic animals” as announced in FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No. 5 Aquaculture Development, Suppl. 2.Google Scholar

49 FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No 2: Precautionary Approach to Capture Fisheries and Species Introductions, FAO 1996.Google Scholar

50 For example, the CCRF does not address movement of live aquatic animals, but the FAO Secretariat has developed the FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Development, Suppl. 2 on “Health Management For Responsible Movement of Live Aquatic Animals,” FAO 2007.Google Scholar

51 Edeson (note 16), at 85.Google Scholar

52 Rüdiger Wolfrum, Means of Ensuring Compliance with and Enforcement of International Environmental Law, 272 Recueil des cours 25, 110 (1998); Abraham Chayes & Antonia Handler Chayes, The New Sovereignty: Compliance with International Regulatory Agreements 154 and 197 (1995).Google Scholar

53 FAO Conference Res. 4/95 (note 15), at para. 4.Google Scholar

54 Art. 4(2) CCRF; FAO Conference Res. 4/95 (note 15), para. 6; references to reporting to and of FAO are equally included in all of the IPOAs, see IPOA Seabirds, para. 24, IPOA-Sharks, para. 31; IPOA-Capacity, para. 44, IPOA-IUU, para. 87.Google Scholar

55 FAO, Committee on Fisheries, Report of the Twenty-Second Session, 17–20 March 1997, para. 29.Google Scholar

56 Numbers of reporting countries: 69 in 1999, 103 in 2001, 105 in 2003, 49 in 2005, 70 in 2007. All reports are available at: http://www.fao.org/fi/body/cofi/cofi.asp.Google Scholar

57 FAO Council, Report of its Hundred and Twelfth Session, 1997, CL 112/REP, para. 29; Report of the Twenty-Second Session of the Committee on Fisheries, 1997, FIPL/R562 (En), para. 29.Google Scholar

58 The 2001 revision was based on an improved format suggested by COFI at its 23rd session in 1999.Google Scholar

59 The FAO Secretariat has recently assisted in the revision of pertinent legislation of a number of developing countries, including Angola, Namibia, Malaysia, The Maldives, Vietnam, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda.Google Scholar

60 The Convention text is available at: www.faolex.fao.org.Google Scholar

61 Arts. 6(14) and 11(2) CCRF (WTO), Arts. 1(1), 3(1) and (2) CCRF (UNCLOS); Art. 1(1) CCRF (Compliance Agreement).Google Scholar

62 Arts. 8(4.1) and (10.1) CCRF.Google Scholar

63 World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, para. 31 (c), endorsed by GA Res. 57/253 of 20 December 2002.Google Scholar

64 Article 7 section 2(b) Lake Tanganyika Convention, available through http://faolex.fao.org/.Google Scholar

65 Art. 10(c) FSA.Google Scholar

66 The FSA was elaborated in parallel to the CCRF, often by the same delegates, so that from a historical perspective, a reference to “responsible fishing” is likely to be a reference to the FAO CCRF.Google Scholar

67 Art. 8(4) FSA.Google Scholar

68 Art. 5(b) FSA and Arts. 61(3) and 119(1)(a) UNCLOS. For the duty to take measures and the duty to cooperate with a view to take such measures compare Art. 64 UNCLOS in conjunction with Art. 5 FSA; Arts. 61(2) and 117 UNCLOS.Google Scholar

69 These are the duties that derive from Art. 64 UNCLOS in conjunction with Art. 5 FSA; Arts. 61(2) and 117 UNCLOS.Google Scholar

70 Rüdiger Wolfrum, IMO Interface with the Law of the Sea Convention, in Current Maritime Issues and the International Maritime Organization 223, 231 (Myron Nordquist & John Norton Moore eds., 1999); David Vignes, La valeur juridique de certaines règles, normes ou pratiques mentionnées au TNCO comme ‘généralement acceptées', 25 Annuaire Français de Droit International 712, 716 (1979); Louis B. Sohn, Generally accepted International Rules, 61 Washington Law Review 1073, 1075 (1986); Robin Churchill and Vaughan Lowe, The Law of the Sea 107–108 (3rd ed. 1999).Google Scholar

71 Rüdiger Wolfrum, Volker Röben and Fred Morrison, Preservation of the Marine Environment, in International, Regional and National Environmental Law 225, 233 (Fred Morrison & Rüdiger Wolfrum eds., 2000); International Law Association, Final Report of the Committee on Coastal State Jurisdiction relating to Marine Pollution 38 (2000); Bernhard Oxman, The Duty to Respect Generally Accepted International Standards, 24 New York University Journal of International Law and Policy 109, 110 (1991-1992).Google Scholar

72 World Bank website, www.worldbank.org/fish; David Freestone, The Role of the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility in the Implementation of the Regime of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, in The Law of the Sea: Progress and Prospects 307, 322 et seq. (David Freestone, Richard Barnes & David Ong eds., 2006).Google Scholar

73 Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and CITES, available at: http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/sec/index.shtml.Google Scholar

74 FAO, Independent External Evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO: The Challenge of Renewal, Working Draft, para. 630 (July 2007), available at: http://www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/IEE-Working-Draft-Report/K0489E.pdf.Google Scholar

75 Commission on the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), Res. on Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing (IUU) and Establishment of a CCSBT Record of Vessel over 24 meters, 7–10 October 2003, amended by a adopted at the Eleventh Annual Meeting of 19–22 October 2004, available at: www.ccsbt.org.Google Scholar

76 Statute of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission, para. 5, available at: http://www.intfish.net/orgs/fisheries/swiofc.htm.Google Scholar

77 European Commission, Green Paper on the Future of the Common Fisheries Policy, COM (2001) 135 final, 20 March 2001.Google Scholar

78 European Commission, European Code of Sustainable and Responsible Fisheries Practices (2004).Google Scholar

79 European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament laying down a Community Action Plan for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources in the Mediterranean Sea under the Common Fisheries Policy, COM (2002) 535 final, 9 October 2002, para. 3.4.3.Google Scholar

80 FAO, Committee on Fisheries, Twenty-Seventh Session, 5–9 March 2007, COFI/2007/2, Progress in the implementation of the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, related International Plans of Action and Strategy, para. 6.Google Scholar

81 FAO, The Challenge of Renewal (note 74), at para. 425.Google Scholar

82 Compare e.g. the Mexican Plan of Action to implement the IPOA-Sharks, ‘Plan de Acción Nacional para el Manejo y Conservación de Tiburones, Rayas y Especies Afines en México', available at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/FI/DOCUMENT/IPOAS/national/mexico/PANMCT_VERSIONFINAL.pdf.Google Scholar

83 The Fisheries Act, 2003, available at http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/tan53024.pdf.Google Scholar

84 The numerous references to responsible fisheries can be understood as dynamic implicit references to the CCRF.Google Scholar

85 MSC website, available at: http://eng.msc.org/.Google Scholar

86 The Code of Conduct is available at: http://www.seafoodsite.com.au/sustainable/code.php.Google Scholar

87 The Code of Conduct is available at http://www.fisheriescouncil.ca/pdf/FCCFishingOperations6.pdf.Google Scholar

88 The Code of Conduct is available at: www.feap.info.Google Scholar

89 FAO, Committee on Fisheries, Twenty-Sixth Session, 7–11 March 2005, COFI/2005/2 Progress in the implementation of the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, related International Plans of Action, paras. 33–36.Google Scholar

90 FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2006 (2007), Part II, available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/A0699e/A0699e00.htm Google Scholar

91 Barnhizer, David, Waking from Sustainability's “Impossible Dream”: The Decisionmaking Realities of Business and Government, 18 The Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 595, 677 (2006).Google Scholar

92 Nazmul Alam, Kwei Lin, Amararatne Yakupitiyage, Harvey Demaine and Michael Phillips, Compliance of Bangladesh shrimp culture with the FAO code of conduct for responsible fisheries: a development challenge, 48 Ocean and Coastal Management 177, 186 (2005).Google Scholar

93 Barnhizer (note 91), at 674.Google Scholar

94 See on constructivism in the context of international institutions and bureaucracies Ingo Venzke, in this volume.Google Scholar

95 FAO: The Challenge of Renewal (note 74), Box 4.3.Google Scholar

96 Benvenisti, Eyal, Public Choice and Global Administrative Law: Who's Afraid of Executive Discretion?, IILJ Working Paper 2004/3 (Global Administrative Law Series), available at www.iilj.org.Google Scholar

97 See Jochen von Bernstorff, in this issue.Google Scholar

98 Bogdandy, Armin von, Lawmaking by International Organizations: Some Thoughts on Non-Binding Instruments and Democratic Legitimacy, in Developments of International Law in Treaty-Making 171, 173 (Rüdiger Wolfrum & Volker Röben eds., 2005).Google Scholar

99 See also Bernstorff, Jochen von, in this issue.Google Scholar

100 See Wolfrum, Rüdiger, in this issue.Google Scholar

101 Bernstorff, Jochen von, Zivilgesellschaftliche Partizipation in Internationalen Organisationen: Form globaler Demokratie oder Baustein westlicher Expertenherrschaft?, in Demokratie in der Weltgesellschaft, Sonderband Soziale Welt (Hauke Brunkhorst ed., forthcoming 2008).Google Scholar

102 Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, 28 June 1998, Arts. 6 and 7, UNTS, Vol. 447, 2161.Google Scholar

103 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Report of the Second Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 25–27 May 2005, Decision II/4 entitled “Promoting the Application of the Principles of the Aarhus Convention in International Forums,” ECE/MP.PP/2005/2/Add.5, 20 June 2005.Google Scholar