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IN THE CORRIDORS I

At an informative roundtable on "legal mechanisms" organized by the NGO Network, representatives from several governments met with NGOs to discuss the pros and cons of the various options for implementing substantive and procedural agreements. The options discussed included: 1) a treaty regime, either free-standing or as a protocol to UNCLOS; 2) an authoritative interpretation of UNCLOS with regard to fisheries provisions; 3) the adoption of rules and regulations under UNCLOS; 4) an agreed statement of principles made legally-binding through regional agreements, national law and/or customary international law; 5) a UN General Assembly resolution; and, 6) a hybrid of two or more of the above options (e.g., a free-standing treaty complemented by a General Assembly resolution committing governments to abide by the treaty pending its entry into force).