[Senate Executive Report 106-19]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Exec. Rept.
SENATE
2d Session 106-19
======================================================================
TREATY WITH MEXICO ON DELIMITATION OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF
_______
September 29, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Helms, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany Treaty Doc. 106-39]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred
the Treaty Between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the United Mexican States on the
Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in the Western Gulf of
Mexico Beyond 200 Nautical Miles, signed at Washington on June
9, 2000 (Treaty Doc. 106-39) having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with the declaration and proviso
indicated in Section VII, and recommends that the Senate give
its advice and consent to the ratification thereof as set forth
in this report and the accompanying resolution of ratification.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Background.......................................................1
III. Summary..........................................................3
IV. Entry Into Force and Denunciation................................3
V. Committee Action.................................................4
VI. Committee Recommendation and Comments............................4
VII. Text of Resolution of Ratification...............................4
I. Purpose
The treaty addresses the delineation of the Continental
Shelf boundary in the Gulf of Mexico between the United States
and Mexico.
II. Background
The proposed treaty was preceded by two related agreements.
Under the Treaty to Resolve Pending Boundary Differences and to
Maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado River as the International
Boundary (23 UST 371; TIAS 7313 (1972)), a maritime boundary
was established, inter alia, in the western Gulf of Mexico
extending approximately 12 nautical miles into the Gulf from
the land boundary separating Mexico and Texas (the mouth of the
Rio Grande River). That treaty entered into force in 1972.
Mexico then claimed an exclusive economic zone, and the
United States a fisheries management zone, extending 200
nautical miles from their shores. These zones overlapped in
parts of the Gulf. Consequently, the U.S. and Mexico negotiated
provisional boundaries in 1976 and, finding them to be
satisfactory, incorporated them into a 1978 ``Treaty on
Maritime Boundaries between the United States of America and
the United Mexican States'' (``1978 Treaty'').
The 1978 treaty established a further delineation of the
maritime boundaries between Mexico and the United States
extending from the end of the previous boundary line to 200
miles into the western part of the Gulf of Mexico. The treaty
also established a boundary line in the eastern part of the
Gulf of Mexico where the zones overlapped, by virtue of each
country's claim measured from Louisiana for the United States,
and from several Mexican islands off the coast of Yucatan for
Mexico.
Although the 1978 Treaty was favorably reported by the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 1980 (S. Exec. Rept.
No. 96-49, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (August 5, 1980)), its approval
by the full Senate was delayed by differences over the oil and
gas potential of the area ceded to Mexico. The 1978 Treaty was
eventually ratified, however, in 1997.
Between the western and eastern boundaries established by
the 1978 Treaty there remained a substantial deep sea area of
the Gulf (about 135 miles long and comprising approximately
6600 square miles) that lay beyond either of the claimed
zones--the so-called ``Western Gap.''
The Clinton Administration expressed its intent to enter
into negotiations with Mexico to delimit the continental shelf
in the Western Gap once the 1978 Treaty was ratified. The 1997
report of the Committee on Foreign Relations on the 1978 Treaty
supported commencement of negotiations, stating:
Delimitation of the western gap has become
increasingly important to U.S. interests as petroleum
exploration has moved into deeper waters. The
Department of Interior is now receiving bids for
exploration in this area. Several new drilling vessels
capable of operating in water depths of up to 10,000
feet are under construction * * *. The Committee urges
the Executive Branch to commence negotiations on the
western gap without delay, once this treaty enters into
force (S. Exec. Rept. 105-4, 105th Cong., 1st Sess., at
5-6 (Oct. 22, 1997)).
The proposed treaty discussed in this report is the product
of those negotiations.
III. Summary
A. GENERAL
The proposed treaty would establish a boundary between the
two countries on the continental shelf of the Western Gap.
Treaty Doc. 106-39 sets forth an illustrative diagram of the
affected area and coordinates. The waters above this area are,
and will remain, international waters.
The treaty is intended to clarify each country's right to
exploit the resources of the seabed and subsoil in the affected
region, particularly the oil and gas resources that may be
there. The treaty would also provide a means for resolving
conflicting claims to oil and gas deposits that may extend
across the boundary (``transboundary reservoirs''). The
division allocates approximately 4100 square miles (62%) of the
Western Gap to Mexico and 2536 square miles (38%) to the United
States.
B. KEY PROVISIONS
Articles I and II of the proposed treaty define the
boundary line by means of geodetic lines between specified
coordinates.
Article III bars the United States from exercising any
sovereign rights or jurisdiction over the seabed and subsoil
south of that line, and Mexico from doing so north of that
line.
Article IV defines an area extending 1.4 nautical miles on
either side of the boundary line (``the Area''), and prohibits
drilling or other exploitation in the Area for a period of ten
years (or such other period as the Parties agree to). It also
mandates cooperation between the two countries in determining
the existence and location of transboundary reservoirs in the
Area.
Article V requires the Parties, during the period of the
moratorium on exploitation in the Area, to ``seek to reach
agreement for the efficient and equitable exploitation of such
transboundary reservoirs.''
Article V further requires each Party, after the expiration
of the moratorium, to inform the other of decisions to
authorize exploration, development, and production in the Area.
Article VI requires each Party to honor requests from the
other for consultations on the interpretation and
implementation of the treaty.
Article VII contains standard language to the effect that
the boundary established by this treaty does not prejudice or
affect either Party's claims regarding its internal waters, the
territorial sea, the high seas, or for any other purpose.
Article VIII mandates that disputes over the treaty be
resolved by negotiation or other peaceful means.
IV. Entry into Force and Denunciation
A. ENTRY INTO FORCE
Pursuant to Article IX, the proposed treaty will enter into
force on the date of the exchange of instruments of
ratification.
B. TERMINATION
The proposed treaty contains no termination provision.
V. Committee Action
The Committee on Foreign Relations held a public hearing on
the proposed treaty on September 13, 2000, (a transcript of the
hearing and questions for the record can be found in Senate
hearing 106-660 entitled ``Consideration of Pending
Treaties''). The Committee considered the proposed treaty on
September 27, 2000, and ordered it favorably reported by voice
vote, with the recommendation that the Senate give its advice
and consent to the ratification of the proposed treaty subject
to the declaration and proviso noted below.
VI. Committee Recommendation and Comments
The Committee on Foreign Relations recommends favorably the
proposed treaty. On balance, the Committee believes that the
proposed treaty is in the interest of the United States and
urges the Senate to act promptly to give its advice and consent
to ratification.
VII. Text of the Resolution of Ratification
Resolved, (two thirds of the Senators present concurring
therein), That the Senate advise and consent to the
ratification of the Treaty between the Government of the United
States of America and the Government of the United Mexican
States on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in the
Western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 Nautical Miles, signed at
Washington on June 9, 2000 (Treaty Doc. 106-39), subject to the
declaration of subsection (a) and the proviso of subsection
(b).
(a) Declaration.--The Senate's advice and consent is
subject to the following declaration, which shall be binding
upon the President:
Treaty Interpretation.--The Senate affirms the
applicability to all treaties of the constitutionally
based principles of treaty interpretation set forth in
Condition (1) of the resolution of ratification of the
INF Treaty, approved by the Senate on May 27, 1988, and
Condition (8) of the resolution of ratification of the
Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, approved by the
Senate on May 14, 1997.
(b) Proviso.--The resolution of ratification is subject
to the following proviso, which shall not be included in the
instrument of ratification:
Supremacy of the Constitution.--Nothing in this
Treaty requires or authorizes legislation or other
action by the United States of America that is
prohibited by the Constitution of the United States as
interpreted by the United States.