Overall, the APEC region has taken important steps to facilitate the deployment, protection, and
expeditious repair of submarine telecommunications cables. The UN Convention on the Law of
the Seas (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that established a regulatory framework for the
use of the earth’s seas and oceans.11 In response to the two surveys administered in eleven
APEC member economies in 2009 and 2012, eight economies12 indicated that they are a full
State Party to the UNCLOS and have thereby consented to be bound by this Convention and
for which this Convention is in force.13 According to information provided by the UN,
seventeen economies are in fact full State Parties to the UNCLOS. The remaining economies
not yet full State Parties to the treaty have taken steps toward membership by signing but not
yet ratifying UNCLOS, which would make the above provisions binding across the region.