Anna Saviano
Brazil - Laws/Rules of Sea
Model UN
Brazil, the largest country in South America, possesses a massive coastal
presence, and, as a result, multitudes of conflict concerning the surrounding waters
have been brought to attention. To present a visual aid, Brazil lies in the center of South
America, with the North Atlantic Ocean to the north, and the South Atlantic Ocean to the
south. Now one may ponder, how do countries differentiate between countries’ ocean
territories? Before the United Nations Conference of the Sea took place in 1956, ships
had free range of passage. It was not long, however, until controversies arose, and
borderlines were drawn. In 1982, UNCLOS took place in New York City in an attempt to
create an international document focused on sea territory rights that which all countries
would eventually comply. Some highlights of the document are that each country has
equal rights to the bodies of water around them, that each ‘owned’ territory consists of
200 nautical miles or less, and that military and civilian ships alike have access to these
fields.
Even though Brazil maintains a substantial amount of coastal territory, they had a
few specific accommodations they hoped to make. In 1982, when countries began
signing the UNCLOS convention, Brazil added a declaration claiming that they did not
permit other countries to conduct military exercises or maneuvers in their Exclusive
Economic Zone (their 200 nautical miles from shore). Eight years later, in 1988, this
restriction was ratified by Brazil. In addition, Brazil had a second declaration to the
Ratified Convention in 1988 that states, “Vessels… within the EEZ, could not be
boarded, searched and seized if suspected of engaging in illicit narcotics traffic without
authorization of the coastal State.” And even though both of Brazil’s declarations were
ratified, the United States refuses to recognize them.
Article 76, Paragraph 8 of UNCLOS provides that if a signatory state wishes to
broaden their maritime border beyond the 200 nautical mile limit, they must submit their
request with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Recently, Brazil has
followed through with this requirement and presented an appeal to extend their territorial
claims into international waters. Of course, this request was brought up after Brazil
identified a massive oil reserve expanse off Brazil’s coast, but, unfortunately, not in their
claimed waters. As the world’s ninth largest oil producer, Brazil undoubtedly hopes to
improve its ranking. In addition, this specific seabed is apparently rich in many minerals:
cobalt, manganese, nickel, and copper. Brazil’s desire to lengthen its borders has not
yet been approved by the CLCS; however, this pause has not stopped Brazil’s
government from spending 50 million Brazilian reals (equivalent to around 29 million
U.S. dollars) for a fleet of ships that will extract 400 samples from the mineral-abundant
seabed. In short, Brazil believes that it has exclusive rights to these deposits even
though they are outside the 200 nautical mile limit.