the Arctic Through 2020 and Beyond" signed on 18 September 2008 by Russian President (now Prime Minister) Medvedev. This policy document addresses various issues tied to the protection and development of the land and offshore waters of Russia's Arctic sector. European Union If accession of Iceland to the European Union occurs, the EU will increase its Arctic influence and possibly gain permanent observer status in the Arctic Council. The Northern Dimension of European Union policy, established in the late 1990s, intended to deal with issues concerning western Russia, as well as to increase general cooperation among the EU, Iceland and Norway. It has since become a multilateral, equal partnership among the EU, Iceland, Norway and Russia. Canada and the United States are observers to the partnership. Three Nordic Council members have joined the EU (Denmark in 1973 and Sweden & Finland in 1995). The European Union's application to become a “permanent observer” in the Arctic Council was blocked in 2009 by Canada in response to the European Union's ban on the importation of seal products. China China's ice capable research vessel, Xuě Lóng, sailed the Northwest Passage in August 2012. China is interested in Arctic resources and shipping routes; and attained permanent observer status in the Arctic Council in 2013. South Korea South Korea has an icebreaker and is building another. The country is investing in LNG infrastructure near Inuvik, where LNG will be shipped from the Beaufort Sea and south through the Bering Strait. Other Arctic treaties and agreements Other treaties governing all or part of the Arctic region: The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 among initially fourteen countries governs the political and economic status of Svalbard. The Arctic Cooperation Agreement of 1988 between the United States and Canada regulates bilateral cooperation regarding the Northwest Passage, but does not resolve the disagreement between the two countries about the legal status of the passage. The Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement of 2011, concluded by the Arctic Council member states, coordinates search and rescue in the Arctic. The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic The Barents Sea Border Treaty specifies the demarcation line between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea. The Joint Norwegian–Russian Fisheries Commission The Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears Territorial claims According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coastal states have sovereign rights to resources