Disputes - international:

Brunei and Malaysia reached a tentative deal in 2007 consultations to resolve their offshore and deepwater seabed dispute and resume hydrocarbon exploration, terminated in 2003, near the site of a major discovery; Malaysia's land boundary with Brunei around Limbang is in dispute; Brunei established an exclusive economic fishing zone encompassing Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands in 1984, but makes no public territorial claim to the offshore reefs; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions in the Spratly Islands but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants

Illicit drugs:

drug trafficking and illegally importing controlled substances are serious offenses in Brunei and carry a mandatory death penalty