Finland plans to establish a maritime "economic zone" that would extend beyond the country's territorial waters. The move would make it easier for Finnish authorities to stop ships illegally dumping oil or other chemicals at sea.

   

The bill for such an economic zone has been under preparation for several years, and is soon to go before Parliament.

   

The law would allow Finnish officials to take action against polluters outside territorial waters: the captain of a ship or the shipping line could be brought before a Finnish court for polluting the sea.

   

Sari Mäkelä of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs says that by establishing an economic zone Finland would be extending its jurisdiction in a manner that the United Nations treaty on maritime law allows.

   

The law would extend Finnish jurisdiction to the middle of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, which is currently the outer limit of Finland's fishing zone. There would also be a slight extension in the southern part of the area.

   

Until now Finland has been largely powerless to stop emissions of pollutants by passing ships, which occasionally dump bilge water and water from washing oil tanks near Finland's territorial waters.

At present environmental violations

committed in international waters fall under the jurisdiction of the country under whose flag the ship sails, rather than the countries most affected by the pollution.

   

More than 100 countries have established economic zones outside their territorial waters. Sweden set up such a zone in the early 1990s, but did not include enforcement of bans on dumping oil until last year.