Cyprus has officially submitted to the UN the instrument of ratification for the Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction agreement, the foreign ministry announced on Friday.

The BBNJ agreement is the third implementing agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and aims at the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, both for the present and the long term.

Cyprus had signed the agreement on September 20, 2023, jointly with the European Union and the other EU member states.

The foreign ministry said that Cyprus, as an island and maritime state, reaffirms its full support for UNCLOS and calls on all UN member states that have not yet signed, ratified or accepted the agreement “to do so as soon as possible in order to facilitate its early entry into force”.

The document was submitted on May 28 by permanent representative of Cyprus to the UN ambassador Maria Michael.

Alongside Cyprus, the EU, Latvia, Hungary, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland also submitted instruments of ratification.