TERRITORIAL SEAS AND CONTINENTAL SHELF; ILLIA ADMINISTRATION SUBMITS DRAFT LAW TO CONGRESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000800130003-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: August 29, 1964
• Content Type: CABLE

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DATE: i August 29,.1964.
SUBJECT: Territorial Seas ?and Continental Shelf; Illia Administration
Submits Draft Law to Congress
REP.
As reported in Joint Weeka No. 32 of August 8, 1964, the ILLIA
Administration released on August 1 the text of a draft law submitted to
the Congress which would consolidate into a single legal provision pre-
existing-decrees,.laws and policy declarations dealing with the width of
the territorial seas, the continental shelf and the "Argentine" epiconti-
nental sea.
The salient features of the draft law are:
1. Extensimof Argentine territorial waters from three to
six (nautical) miles.
?
Statutory definition of the continental shelf and a
declaration of Argentine sovereignty thereon and under.
Statutory definition of the Argentine epicontinental seas
and a declaration of sovereignty therein.
The executive bill would appear to be a rather poor piece of legal
draftsmanship unless portions of it 'are intentionally meant to be vague
and subjects to whatever interpretation the Argentine Governnent may wish
subsequently to place upon it, particularly in the face of possible
reactions from other powers.
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BUENOS AIRES
Following current international usage, the law would fix the outward extent
of the continental shelf to the 200-meter (approximately 100 fathoms) water depth
line in seas adjacent to the Argentine coast but beyond the territorial sea. It
seems, nevertheless, to lay claim (as forming part of its continental shelf beyond
the 200-meter line) to that part of the ocean bed where the depths of tlie waters
adjoining, but beyond, the 200-meter demarcation permit the exploration and
exploitation of the natural resources therein contained. Equally uncertain, there-
fore, is the definition of the "Argentine Epicontinental Seas" which the law
?
purports to define as the waters overlying the continental shelf.
While the geographic limits of either or both the shelf and the epicontinental
seas are, perhaps, subject to further clarification through executive statements,
legislative history or the law's application, a more significant problem resides
in the imprecise manner in which the draft law purports to formulate the exercise
of Argentine sovereignty in and upon the waters lying above the continental shelf
(the epicontinental sea).
Neither the provisions of the draft law or of the accompanying message lack
assertions of Argentina's sovereignty over the epicontinental sea. Yet, a thorough
reading of both suggests that the exercise of such sovereignty is not unlimited:
Argentine "sovereignty" will not affect the freedom of navigation in the epiconti-
nental seas nor will it restrict circulation in the corresponding airspace.
Included in the same law, moreover, is the limitation of the territorial seas to a
belt not exceeding six marine miles. Since the sovereignty and attendant juris-
diction of a riparian state over-its territorial waters is identical to that attach-
ing to its land territory (save, perhaps, for the right. of innocent passage), the
Argentine Government may, by 4tfferentiating between its territorial waters and
epicontinental seas,. also differentiate between the extent to which it chooses to
exercise.its sovereignty over them. Examination of Article 5 of the draft law
suggests that Argentina seeks to apply a kind of selective sovereignty on the seas
above the continental shelf in that the terms of the article are tantamount to an,
assertion of a (rather Sweeping) right of general protective jurisdiction beyond
territorial waters not dissimilar in some respects to the U.S. concept Of customs
waters which evolved in connection with the National Prohibition Act.
Article 5 gives somewhat greater precision, moreover, to the expression of
concern found in the accompanying message which speaks of the habitual presence
of foreign fishing fleets "in our epicontinental seas" since that article would
extend Argentine sovereign (protective) jurisdiction to those seas by means of the
enforcement therein of its domestic fishing laws. Taken together, then, the law
and message appear to constitute a rather vague unilateral declaration of protective
jurisdiction with regard to fisheries based on the asserted need for conservation
and protection of fishery resources. The Argentine Government may have in mind a
similar if not identical United States Government declaration of September, 1945
which proclaimed the establishment of conservation zones in areas of the high seas
contiguous to the coasts of the U.S. unaccompanied however, by assertions of
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exclusive national sovereignty.
A-214
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BUENOS AIRES
? The executive message does not overlook the fortuitous fact that the:20C-meter
Water depth.line,(100 fathoms). encompasses the MalVinas:Islands'ana it "not.
sirrprisingly states that the, declaration of national sovereignty over the continental' -
shelf serve6.to'reiterate-Argentine rights over thcise islands.
MARTIN
Enclosures:
1. Executive Message
2. -Draft Law
? Copy sent to:
ARA/APU/A - Mr. Bartch
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UNCLASSIFIED
(UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION)
EXECUTIVE MESSAGE
? Page 1 of 3
Enclosure 1
- BUENOS AIRES A- 214
Article 2.340, Paragraph 1_ of the Civil Code delimits the territorial sea and
?
contiguous zone, establishing that the seas adjacent to the territory of the
Republic are the public property of the general State or of the individual States
out to a distance of one marine league measured from the line of the lowest tide:
but the police power, related to the security of the country and its fiscal laws
extends to a distance of four marine leagues measured in the same manner.
The National Constitution prescribes in Article 67, Paragraph 14, that it is
the function of the Congress of the Nation to set the limits of the national terri-
tory. Reasons of a political, economic and juridical order induce the conviction
that dispositions currently in effect under the 'Lawof the Sea do not' adequately
protect the sovereignty of. the Nation over the continental shelf and the epiconti-
nental sea. The activities of foreign fishing boats in waters close to 'ourcoasts
determine the imperious necessity of considering in an up-to-date manner the problan
of the extension of the territorial sea and the limits of the fisheries, adopting
the dispositions. essential to the essence of our sovereignty and which shape an
Argentine foreign policy respecting the Law of the Sea.
The fundamental outlines (of such a policy) have been given in a message to
this Honorable Congress when it was expressed: "We are prepared to carry the limits
of our maritime jurisdiction to the limits necessary to cover the security of the
national patrimony, considering that the epicontinental sea and the continental
shelf go beyond the narrow jurisdictions (now) exercised."
In this order Of ideas, the Foreign Minister sets forth the position of the
Government in its economic aspect when he declared: "We have achieved a complete
coincidence (of views) with Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Peru, and I believe that this
is a concept that should have been formulated some time ago: that of defending the
ichthyological riches that are not within the traditional jurisdiction of three
marine miles".
In the juridical aspect, the norms of international law that govern the matter
are, in great part, customary, that is, nonconventional. The Geneva conventions of
1958 are-not applicable to our country because they have not been ratified.
Some countries have concluded agreements among themselves on a common policy
respecting the Law of the Sea. Such is the case of Chile, Peru and Ecuador which
have adopted the accords of the nations of the South Pacific. Although treaties
of this type have juridical validity only for the signatory States, the effective
exercise of the rights proclaimed have achieved, in fact, the respect of the inter-
national community.
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UNCLASSIFIED
Page 2 of 3 .
Enclosure 1
BUENOS AIRES A-214
The validityof customary law subsists until it is modified by other and
different Practices that are accepted by the generality of the States which consti-
tute the international community. The Executive Power considers it necessary to
combine into a Single body of law the measures that regulate the juridical regime
of the various maritime spaces over which the Nation exercises sovereignty. It
believes, moreover, that it is of urgent necessity to bring up to date the norms
existing in this matter, following the evolution produced in recent times by the
Law of: the Sea.
In thecase of the continental shelf, it was the interest in the exclusive
exploitation of petroleum deposits situated in it that brought forth the first
declarations of sovereignty over it. In the face of numerous coincident declara-
tions, international.doctrine elaborated the theory of "inherent right" which the
Geneva Conference consecrated by recognizing the rights of sovereignty over the
continental shelf. This doctrine takes into account the prevalent interest of the
riparian State and its projection over-the zone of the sea linked organically with
the coast, without thereby seeking to diminish freedom of navigation, and established
the rights of riparian States over the epicontinental sea as a consequence of their
sovereignty over the soil and subsoil of the continental shelf.
The declaration of the sovereignty of the Nation over the continental shelf
and the. epicontinental sea serves to reiterate Argentine rights over the-Malvinas --
-- Islands since those islands are found within the 20-meter isobath, the line which
constitutes the minimum universally accepted external delimitation of such zones.
-Reasons of an economic order contribute, moreover, to the necessity of declaring
sovereignty over the.epicontinental sea. From the point of view of fisheries, the
waters ofthe .continental shelf are divided into: (a) coastal fishing area: (b)
? deep-sea areas subdivided into the Bonarense, Patagonic and-Foguino areas. Within
our economy, both areas are complementary even though the destination of their
production may be different Since the first area is employed principally in the
preparation of canned products while the second produces for the fresh market. To
date, intensive fishing characterizes the coastal area while deep-sea fishing is
? undertaken preferentially in the Bonarense area and outside of jurisdictional waters
...to the edge of the continental_ slope. The habituality of fishing by foreign fleets
? - in our epicontinental sea signifies the progressive but certain reduction of fish-
ing resources and the gradual destruction of one of the most important wellsprings
Of our economy since the displacement of migratory species is not always produced
within the .limits of coastal fishing zones.
? The sovereign right over the-epicontinental sea, reasonable and just, carries
With it the consequence of an assured defense of interests vital to the national
economy-.
Nevertheless, consideration owing to commerce and international_ communications
makes it desirable to insure that the measures that are adopted do not impose
restrictions on navigation to the extent these may be compatible with the previously-
-announced ends.
UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED
Page 3 of 3
Enclosure 1. ?
BUENOS AIRES A-2I4
With respect to the territorial sea, international law in its modern orienta-
tion recognizes the right of maritime States to extend it with the consequent '
advantages that this presupposes. In the criteria of the Executive Power, the
considerations that are herein expounded are decisive and will surely carry over
into the spirit of the Honorable Congress the conviction that the attached bill
should be urgently approved.
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UNCLASSIFIED
(UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION)
DRAFT LAW
Page 1 of 1
Enclosure 2
BUENOS AIRES A-214
Article 1.- The Argentine Nation exercises its exclusive sOvereignty over
the continental Shelf and upon the epicontinental sea-corresponding to national
territory.
Article 2 - Insofar as they apply to the present law, the expression
"Argentine Continental Shelf" designates the bed of the sea and (its) subsoil of
the maritime zones adjacent to the coasts but situated beyond the zone of the
territorial sea out to the 200-meter isobath or beyond this limit, to where the
depths of the superadjacent waters permit the exploration and exploitation of the
natural resources of Said zones.
Article 3 It is understood that"Argentine Epicontinental Sea" signifies the
waters of thesea that cover the Argentine continental shelf.
Article 4 - The exercise of the Nation's sovereignty in the epicontinental sea,
and in the Argentine continental shelf shall include the exclusive exploration and
exploitation of its natural. resources._
?
Article 5 - By virtue of its sovereignty over the epicontinental sea, the
Argentine Nation shall-exercise jurisdiction to the ends of effective control of
compliance '(with)- and of prevention and repression of infractions of its police,
-customs, fiscal immigration, sanitary, defense and fishing laws which might be
committed or produce that effect therein, in the territorial sea or in Argentine
territory.
Article 6 - The sovereignty of the Nation over the Argentine epicontinental
sea shall not affect freedom of navigation in those waters nor circulation in the
? corresponding airspace.
Article 7 - The width of the territorial sea measured from the line of the
greatest low tides, is extended to six miles.
Article 8 - There is hereby modified Article 2340, Paragraph 1 of the Civil
Code in the manner established by this present law, which -derogates all other
norms contrary to it.
UNCLASSIFIED
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