European Union
Declaration: "The European Community declares that, in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 175(l) thereof, it is competent for entering into international agreements, and for implementing the obligations resulting therefrom, which contribute to the pursuit of the following objectives: - preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment; - protecting human health; - prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources; - promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems. Moreover, the European Community declares that it has already adopted legal instruments, binding on its Member States, covering matters governed by this Protocol, and will submit and update, as appropriate, a list of those legal instruments to the Biosafety Clearing House in accordance with Article 20(3)(a) of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The European Community is responsible for the performance of those obligations resulting from the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety which are covered by Community law in force. The exercise of Community competence is, by its nature, subject to continuous development."
Syrian Arab Republic
Declaration: [The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic] affirms, however, that the accession of the Syrian Arab Republic to the said Protocol in no way signifies recognition of Israel nor shall it be conducive to entry into any dealings therewith in respect of matters governed by that Protocol.
For the purpose of entry into force of the [Convention/Protocol] , any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by member States of that Organization.
With the following declaration in respect of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region:
In accordance with the provisions of Article 153 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and Article 138 of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Government of the People's Republic of China decides that the Protocol shall not apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China until the Government of the People's Republic of China notifies otherwise.
Subsequently, the Secretary-General received the following communication from the People's Republic of China:
China (Declaration of 9 May 2011):
In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Government of the People's Republic of China decides that the Protocol applies to the Hong King Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
With a territorial exclusion in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.
With the following territorial exclusion:
"... consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account the commitment of the Government of New Zealand to the development of self-government for Tokelau through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, this ratification shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the Depositary on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory."
On 30 May 2014, the Government of the United Kingdom informed the Secretary-General of the Territorial Application of the Protocol in respect of Gibraltar as follows:
“… the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wishes the United Kingdom's Ratification of the Protocol be extended to the territory of Gibraltar for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible.
The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland considers the extension of the aforesaid Protocol to Gibraltar to take effect on the date that this notification is received for deposit …”.
On 9 July 2014, the Secretary-General received from the Government of Spain the following communication with regard to the Territorial Application by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Gibraltar:
1. Gibraltar is a Non-Self-Governing Territory for whose international relations the Government of the United Kingdom is responsible and which is subject to a process of decolonization in accordance with the relevant decisions and resolutions of the General Assembly.
2. The authorities of Gibraltar are local in character, and exercise competences exclusively over internal affairs that originate in and are based on the powers allocated to and conferred on them by the United Kingdom, in accordance with its domestic legislation and in its capacity as the sovereign State upon which depends the said Non-Self-Governing Territory.
3. Consequently, any involvement by the Gibraltarian authorities in the implementation of this Convention shall be understood to take place exclusively within the framework of the internal affairs of Gibraltar and shall not be considered to affect in any way the content of the two preceding paragraphs.
4. The procedure envisaged in the Arrangements relating to Gibraltar authorities in the context of certain international treaties, which were agreed to by Spain and the United Kingdom on 19 December 2007 (together with "Agreed Arrangements relating to Gibraltar authorities in the context of European Union and European Community Instruments and Related Treaties" of 19 April 2000) applies to the present Convention.
5. The application to Gibraltar of the present Convention cannot be interpreted as recognition of any rights or situations involving matters not included in Article 10 of the Treaty of Utrecht of 13 July 1713, signed bythe crowns of Spain and Great Britain.