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Indonesia-Philippines EEZ boundary brings certainty, security
Although Southeast Asia might be occupied with a story of unresolved maritime boundaries, this year, the region witnessed a success story of resolved boundary negotiations
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span>Although Southeast Asia might be occupied with a story of unresolved maritime boundaries, this year, the region witnessed a success story of resolved boundary negotiations. Indonesia and the Philippines have completed their respective domestic procedures for entry with the Agreement on the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Boundary, initially signed in 2014.
Indonesia ratified the treaty in the form of Law No. 4/2017, while the Philippines recently secured the Senate’s approval with Resolution No. 1048.
Having completed their respective domestic procedures, the foreign ministers of both parties are scheduled to exchange instruments of ratification on Aug. 1 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok. The agreement will enter into force on the day the exchange takes place.
The entry into force of this maritime boundary treaty between Indonesia and the Philippines signifies at least three important points.
First, the treaty marks the culmination of a long process of maritime boundary negotiations over a huge maritime area. Both countries started the negotiations over 20 years ago. The negotiations intensified in 2011, before finally reaching an agreement in 2014. The boundary divides the EEZ in the southern part of the Mindanao Sea and the northern part of the Sulawesi Sea and in the southern section of the Pacific Ocean.
According to the Geospatial Information Agency, the segments in the Sulawesi Sea and the Mindanao Sea are 356.5 and 131.8 nautical miles long respectively. Meanwhile, the length of the Pacific Ocean section is 139.2 nautical miles. With a total delimitation line of 627.5 nautical miles, the EEZ boundary line between Indonesia and the Philippines will become Indonesia’s longest maritime boundary.
Second, the reaching of the final process of the agreement by using principles and guidance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a testament to the continuous cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines in the development of the law of the sea as well as proof of their commitment to respecting international law.
As proponents of the archipelagic state regime since the first UN Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958, both countries have worked side by side in ensuring the adoption of the archipelagic state concept. The concept was adopted in 1982 and incorporated as Part IV of UNCLOS.
This concept grants further benefits for the archipelagic state, as a study by Etty Agoes in 1997 suggests that Indonesia’s sea fisheries export increased significantly from 19,700 tons in 1968 to 520,000 tons in 1994, when UNCLOS entered into force.
Furthermore, 2013 Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry data indicate that 77 percent of Indonesian fisheries products were harvested in Indonesian archipelagic waters.
Both Indonesia and the Philippines have adjusted their archipelagic baselines as a sign of respect for UNCLOS. Indonesia adjusted its archipelagic baseline in 2008, pursuant to the judgment of the International Court of Justice concerning the sovereignty of the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan.
The Philippines adjusted its archipelagic baselines when the Congress passed Republic Act No. 9522 aligning the Philippines’ archipelagic baselines with UNCLOS provisions. It is to demonstrate, as the Arbitral Tribunal on the Case the Philippines versus China in 2016 stipulates, that the accession to the Convention reflects a commitment to bring incompatible claims into alignment with its provisions.
Third, the enforcement of the agreement will ensure security and stability in the region. There is now a clear dividing line for Indonesia and the Philippines to harvest their own fisheries products in the Sulawesi Sea and the Mindanao Sea.
The existence of a boundary line will now provide fisherfolk and law enforcers a clear guiding tool, which in turn will protect them in exercising their jobs. Hence, it will prevent both countries from unnecessary incidents and heightened tensions, as happened in other nondelimited maritime areas.
Indonesia warmly welcomes the exchange of instruments of ratification. While both countries are immersed in satisfaction by this delightful outcome, remaining tasks still lie before us with respect to the pending matters between Indonesia and the Philippines, namely to connect the line to their neighbors — i.e. Malaysia in the western part and Palau in the eastern part.
The agreement is about the delimitation of the EEZ only and, thus, puts aside the delimitation of the continental shelf for future negotiation rounds. A different treaty will then have to be concluded. Both countries affirm the UNCLOS principle that the EEZ and the continental shelf are two different legal regimes. It will leave both countries with more work to do in immediately convening discussions on these matters and achieving a mutually agreed upon outcome to the benefit of peoples of Indonesia and the Philippines.
For the Philippines, it is the first maritime boundary agreement ever concluded, while for Indonesia, it is the 19th boundary agreement. Additionally, this latest agreement marks the construction of a 2,721.78 nautical mile “fence” or 54.6 percent of the total 4,979.9 nautical miles of the EEZ boundary.
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Damos Dumoli Agusman is director general of legal affairs and international treaties and Gulardi Nurbintoro is a foreign service officer at the Directorate of Legal Affairs and Territorial Treaties, Foreign Ministry. Both are Indonesia’s negotiators for maritime boundary delimitation.
