TRANSIT PASSAGE. Article 37 Scope of this section This section applies to straits which are used for international navigation between one part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone and another part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone.
TRANSIT PASSAGE. Transit and transfer passage to other points, baggage, freight and mail across any of the states parties still in the aircraft area, shall go through simplified procedures. Their baggage and freight shall be exempted from customs and taxation during the stop-over period. PART IX: PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND CONSUMER INTERESTS
TRANSIT PASSAGE. Transit passage applies to passage through International Straits,77 which are defined as: (1) routes between the high seas or exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and another part of the high seas or exclusive economic zone;78 (2) overlapped by the territorial sea of one or more coastal States;79 (3) with no other high seas or exclusive economic zone route of similar convenience;80 (4) natural, not constructed (e.g., not the Suez Canal);81 and (5) must actually be used for international navigation.82 The three most well known international straits used in transit passage are the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Malacca, and the Strait of Gibraltar. The U.S. position is that the strait must only be susceptible to use, and not necessarily actually be used for international navigation.83 Transit passage is the exercise of the freedoms of navigation and overflight solely for the purpose of continuous and expeditious transit through the strait in the normal modes of operation utilized by ships and aircraft for such passage.84 In the normal mode of transit, ships may steam in formation, launch and recover aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles if that is normally done during their navigation (e.g., for force protection purposes), and submarines may transit submerged.85 Unlike innocent passage, aircraft may also exercise transit passage (i.e., 72 UNCLOS III, art. 30. See also Annotated NWP 1-14M, supra note 1, at 2-9, 2-11; Xxxxxxxxx & Xxxx, supra note 2, at 99. 73 UNCLOS III, art. 25(3); Annotated NWP 1-14M, supra note 1, at 2-9 to 2-10; Xxxxxxxxx & Xxxx, supra note 2, at 87-88. Note that the temporary suspension of innocent passage is different from the establishment of security zones, which are not recognized either by international law or by the United States. Annotated NWP 1-14M, supra note 1, at 1-21 to 1-22, 1-90, 2-22 to 2-23. See also NWP 1-14M (2007), supra note 1, at para. 1.6.4. However “[c]oastal nations may establish safety zones to protect artificial islands, installations, and structures located in their internal waters, archipelagic waters, territorial seas, and exclusive economic zones, and on their continental shelves.” Id. at 1-24. Safety zones were established in the immediate vicinity of the two Iraqi oil platforms in the northern Arabian Gulf to protect against terrorist attacks. States may also “declare a temporary warning area in international waters and airspace to advise other nations of the conduct of activities that, although lawful, are hazar...
