Does the Convention prohibit interdictions of weapons of mass destruction on the high seas to be undertaken under President Bushs new Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)?
A. No, the Convention neither prohibits nor inhibits any activities to be undertaken pursuant to the Proliferation Security Initiative; in fact the Convention strengthens PSI. State Department Legal Adviser William Taft testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the rules contained in the Law of the Sea Convention applicable to boarding and searching foreign ships at sea are not materially different than rules in this regard the United States is already subject to under the 1958 Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea, to which the United States is a party. Acceding to the Law of the Sea Convention thus will not effect any change in the legal status quo with respect to PSI. Moreover, it has been U.S. policy since President Reagan’s 1983 Statement of Oceans Policy to act in accordance with the Convention’s provisions with respect to the traditional uses of the oceans, which include the Convention’s provisions regarding the boarding and searching of foreign
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