Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 94 Part 3.djvu/1076

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PUBLIC LAW 96-000—MMMM. DD, 1980

94 STAT. 3720 61 Stat. 3302.

48 USC 1681 "°*'®48 USC 1681 not®-

PROCLAMATION 4726—FEB. 21, 1980

Agreement, the United States has under t a k e n to promote the economic advancement and self-sufficiency of the inhabitants and to encourage the development of the fisheries of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The United States and the Northern M a r i a n a Islands h a v e entered into a Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern M a r i a n a Islands in Political Union with the United States of America (Public Law 94-241; 90 Stat. 263) pursuant to which many provisions of the laws of the United States have become applicable to the Northern Mariana Islands a s of January 9, 1978 (Proclamation No. 4534, Sec. 2]. Section 1004(a] of the Covenant provides that if the President finds a provision of the Constitution or laws of the United States to b e inconsistent with the Trusteeship Agreement, the application of that provision to the Northern Mariana Islands may be suspended until the termination of that Agreement. Certain provisions of the vessel documentation laws of the United States, applicable to the Northern Mariana Islands, prevent citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Government of the Northern M a r i a n a Islands from using foreign-built. United States registered fishing vessels o w n e d by such citizens or o w n e d by or in the custody of the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands to fish in the territorial sea and fishery conservation zone around the Northern M a r i a n a Islands and to land their catch of fish in the Northern Mariana Islands. Because of the considerable distance of the Northern Mariana Islands from American shipyards and resultant high transportation costs associated with the purchase of American-built ships for u s e in the Northern M a r i a n a s fisheries, this result is inconsistent with the undertakings a s s u m e d by the United States in the Trusteeship Agreement to provide for the economic a d v a n c e m e n t and self-sufficiency of the inhabitants and to encourage the development of the fisheries of the Northern Mariana Islands.

48 USC 1681 note.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including Section 1004(a) of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern M a r i a n a Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, do hereby find, declare and proclaim a s follows: 1. Any provision of the vessel documentation laws of the United States which prevents the citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands or the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands from using foreign-built, United States registered fishing vessels, owned by such citizens or owned by or in the custody of the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands, to fish in the territorial sea and fishery conservation zone around the Northern Mariana Islands and to land their catch of fish in the Northern Mariana Islands, including that part of R.S. 4132, as amended, 46 U.S.C. 11, which reads "* * * which are to engage only in trade with foreign countries, with the Islands of Guam, Tutuila, Wake, Midway, and Kingman Reef * * *," would be inconsistent with the objectives of the Trusteeship Agreement to the extent it has this effect. 2. The application of any such provision to foreign-built, United States registered fishing vessels owned by citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands or owned by or in the custody of the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands, is suspended to the extent it is inconsistent as described in Section 1 above until the termination of the Trusteeship Agreement for the Former Japanese Mandated Islands in the Pacific (61 Stat. 3301). Foreign-built fishing vessels owned by citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands or owned by or in the custody of the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands may therefore be registered under R.S. 4132, as amended, 46 U.S.C. 11, and any restrictive endorsement upon such register, prescribed by 46 CFR 67.63-9(b)