4. pants

During the period of 180 days provided for in paragraph 3

(b) above, any Party may, by notification in writing to the

depositary, make an objection with respect to the amendment. Such

objection may be withdrawn at any time by written notification to

the depositary and, thereupon, the amendment to the annex shall

enter into force for that Party on the thirtieth day after the

date of withdrawal of the objection.

Article 75

Depositary

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the

depositary of this Agreement and any amendments or revisions

thereto.

Article 76

Authentic texts

The Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

texts of this Agreement are equally authentic.

ANNEX I

Indicative criteria for identification of areas

(a) Uniqueness;

(b) Rarity;

(c) Special importance for the life history stages of

species;

(d) Special importance of the species found therein;

(e) The importance for threatened, endangered or declining

species or habitats;

(f) Vulnerability, including to climate change and ocean

acidification;

(g) Fragility;

(h) Sensitivity;

(i) Biological diversity and productivity;

(j) Representativeness;

(k) Dependency;

(l) Naturalness;

(m) Ecological connectivity;

(n) Important ecological processes occurring therein;

(o) Economic and social factors;

(p) Cultural factors;

(q) Cumulative and transboundary impacts;

(r) Slow recovery and resilience;

(s) Adequacy and viability;

(t) Replication;

(u) Sustainability of reproduction;

(v) Existence of conservation and management measures.

ANNEX II

Types of capacity-building and of the transfer of marine

technology

Under this Agreement, capacity-building and transfer of marine

technology initiatives may include but are not limited to:

(a) The sharing of relevant data, information, knowledge and

research, in user- friendly formats, including:

(i) The sharing of marine scientific and technological

knowledge;

(ii) The exchange of information on the conservation and

sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond

national jurisdiction;

(iii) The sharing of research and development results;

(b) Information dissemination and awareness-raising, including

with regard to:

(i) Marine scientific research, marine sciences and related

marine operations and services;

(ii) Environmental and biological information collected

through research conducted in areas beyond national

jurisdiction;

(iii) Relevant traditional knowledge in line with the free,

prior and informed consent of the holders of such knowledge;

(iv) Stressors on the ocean that affect marine biological

diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, including the

adverse effects of climate change, such as warming and ocean

deoxygenation, as well as ocean acidification;

(v) Measures such as area-based management tools, including

marine protected areas;

(vi) Environmental impact assessments;

(c) The development and strengthening of relevant

infrastructure, including equipment, such as:

(i) The development and establishment of necessary

infrastructure;

(ii) The provision of technology, including sampling and

methodology equipment (e.g., for water, geological, biological or

chemical samples);

(iii) The acquisition of the equipment necessary to support

and further develop research and development capabilities,

including in data management, in the context of activities with

respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence

information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national

jurisdiction, measures such as area-based management tools,

including marine protected areas, and the conduct of

environmental impact assessments;

(d) The development and strengthening of institutional

capacity and national regulatory frameworks or mechanisms,

including:

(i) Governance, policy and legal frameworks and

mechanisms;

(ii) Assistance in the development, implementation and

enforcement of national legislative, administrative or policy

measures, including associated regulatory, scientific and

technical requirements at the national, subregional or regional

level;

(iii) Technical support for the implementation of the

provisions of this Agreement, including for data monitoring and

reporting;

(iv) Capacity to translate information and data into effective

and efficient policies, including by facilitating access to and

the acquisition of knowledge necessary to inform decision makers

in developing States Parties;

(v) The establishment or strengthening of the institutional

capacities of relevant national and regional organizations and

institutions;

(vi) The establishment of national and regional scientific

centres, including as data repositories;

(vii) The development of regional centres of excellence;

(viii) The development of regional centres for skills

development;

(ix) Increasing cooperative links between regional

institutions, for example, North-South and South-South

collaboration and collaboration among regional seas organizations

and regional fisheries management organizations;

(e) The development and strengthening of human and financial

management resource capabilities and of technical expertise

through exchanges, research collaboration, technical support,

education and training and the transfer of marine technology,

such as:

(i) Collaboration and cooperation in marine science, including

through data collection, technical exchange, scientific research

projects and programmes, and the development of joint scientific

research projects in cooperation with institutions in developing

States;

(ii) Education and training in:

a. The natural and social sciences, both basic and applied, to

develop scientific and research capacity;

b. Technology, and the application of marine science and

technology, to develop scientific and research capacities;

c. Policy and governance;

d. The relevance and application of traditional knowledge;

(iii) The exchange of experts, including experts on

traditional knowledge;

(iv) The provision of funding for the development of human

resources and technical expertise, including through:

a. The provision of scholarships or other grants for

representatives of small island developing States Parties in

workshops, training programmes or other relevant programmes to

develop their specific capacities;

b. The provision of financial and technical expertise and

resources, in particular for small island developing States,

concerning environmental impact assessments;

(v) The establishment of a networking mechanism among trained

human resources;

(f) The development and sharing of manuals, guidelines and

standards, including:

(i) Criteria and reference materials;

(ii) Technology standards and rules;

(iii) A repository for manuals and relevant information to

share knowledge and capacity on how to conduct environmental

impact assessments, lessons learned and best practices;

(g) The development of technical, scientific and research and

development programmes, including biotechnological research

activities.