MESIC SIGNS CROATIA'S ACCESS TO FOUR INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Hina) - Croatia's President Stipe Mesic on Friday signed Croatia's access to international agreements on the law of the sea and the sea-bed, the preservation of biological diversity, and the protection of the ozone layer. President Mesic, attending the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York, signed the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which updates the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. For the first time on a global level, the Protocol regulates issues concerning genetically modified organisms in view of protecting mankind and the environment. The aim is to maximally reduce the hazard of endangering people's health and the natural biological diversity. Croatia's President handed to the UN documents ratifying updates on international conventions on the protection of the ozone layer and the position of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. He also handed a document on Croatia's access to a protocol on the status of international authorities for the sea-bed. Preparing the Millennium Summit, the UN Secretary-General in mid- January invited member-states' heads to use the summit as an opportunity for their states to join a series of international agreements. The offer included 13 agreements on human rights, five on disarmament, three on international penal law, three on environmental protection, and one on the status of refugees. (hina) ha