A UNITED NATIONS General Assembly Distr. GENERAL A/RES/53/32 6 January 1999 Fifty-third session Agenda item 38 (a) RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY [without reference to a Main Committee (A/53/L.35 and Add.1)] 53/32. Oceans and the law of the sea The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 49/28 of 6 December 1994, 50/23 of 5 December 1995, 51/34 of 9 December 1996 and 52/26 of 26 November 1997 adopted subsequent to the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea1 (“the Convention”) on 16 November 1994, Recalling also its resolution 2749 (XXV) of 17 December 1970, and considering that the Convention, together with the Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 19822 (“the Agreement”), provides the regime to be applied to the Area and its resources as defined in the Convention, Emphasizing the universal character of the Convention and its fundamental importance for the maintenance and strengthening of international peace and security, as well as for the sustainable use and development of the seas and oceans and their resources, Conscious that the problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be considered as a whole, 1 Official Records of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, vol. XVII (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.84.V.3), document A/CONF.62/122. 2 Resolution 48/263, annex. 99-76123 /...