A/RES/72/73 Oceans and the law of the sea 145. Emphasizes the progress in regional cooperation, including the efforts of littoral States, on the enhancement of safety, security and environmental protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, and the effective functioning of the Coo perative Mechanism on Safety of Navigation and Environmental Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (the Cooperative Mechanism) to promote dialogue and facilitate close cooperation between the littoral States, user States, shipping industries and other stakeholders in line with article 43 of the Convention, notes with appreciation the convening of the tenth Cooperation Forum, in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on 2 and 3 October 2017, the tenth Project Coordination Committee Meeting, in Kota Kinabalu on 4 October 2017, the forty-second Tripartite Technical Experts Group Meeting, in Kota Kinabalu on 5 and 6 October 2017, and the eighteenth and nineteenth Aids to Navigation Fund Committee Meetings, in Singapore, on 11 and 12 April 2017 and 14 and 15 September 2017, respectively, the events being key pillars of the Cooperative Mechanism, also notes with appreciation the important role of the Information Sharing Centre of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, based in Singapore, and calls upon States to give immediate attention to adopting, concluding and implementing cooperation agreements at the regional level; 146. Recognizes that some transnational organized criminal activities threaten legitimate uses of the oceans and endanger the lives of people at sea, as well as the livelihoods and security of coastal communities; 147. Notes that transnational organized criminal activities are diverse and may be interrelated in some cases and that criminal organizations are adaptive and take advantage of the vulnerabilities of States, in particular coastal and small island developing States in transit areas, and calls upon States and relevant intergovernmental organizations to increase cooperation and coordi nation at all levels to detect and suppress the smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons and illicit trafficking in firearms, in accordance with international law; 148. Recognizes the importance of enhancing international cooperation at all levels to fight transnational organized criminal activities, including illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, within the scope of the United Nations instruments against illicit drug trafficking, as well as the smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons and illicit trafficking in firearms and criminal activities at sea falling within the scope of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; 60 149. Encourages States to cooperate at the bilateral, regional and global levels to prevent, combat and eradicate illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora where such trafficking occurs via maritime routes, through, inter alia, the use of applicable international legal instruments as appropriate, such as the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the United Nations Convention against Corruption 61 and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, 62 and reiterates its call upon Member States expressed in its resolution 71/326 of 11 September 2017 to make illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora a serious crime, in accordance with their national legislation and as defined in article 2 (b) and article 3, paragraph 1 (b), of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, in order to ensure that, where the offence is transnational in nature and involves an organized criminal group, effective international coop eration can be __________________ 60 61 62 26/55 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2225, No. 39574. Ibid., vol. 2349, No. 42146. Ibid., vol. 993, No. 14537. 17-21819