INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY TO MEET IN KINGSTON, 17 TO 27 MARCH
Press Release
SEA/1536
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY TO MEET IN KINGSTON, 17 TO 27 MARCH
19970313 Background ReleaseKINGSTON, 13 March -- Work on a mining code for the deep seabed, designed to regulate prospecting and exploration for mineral resources that lie at the bottom of the ocean beyond the jurisdiction of any country, will be taken up when the International Seabed Authority holds the first part of its third session at Kingston, from 17 to 27 March.
The secretariat of the Authority will present a set of 41 draft regulations laying down the terms under which States and mining companies will be able to seek out deposits and accretions of the polymetallic nodules, rich in manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper, lying on or just below the ocean floor miles below the surface, notably in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Prominent among the provisions are measures to protect the marine environment.
The draft mining code is the first substantive matter to be taken up by the Authority since its inaugural session in 1995. At the upcoming session, both of the main intergovernmental bodies of the Authority will meet: the Assembly, composed of all 133 members of the Authority, and the 36-member Council, the executive body.
Also on the agendas of the Assembly and Council are drafts of three instruments concerning institutional matters: a protocol on the Authority's privileges and immunities; an agreement on the relationship between the United Nations and the Authority; and an agreement with the Jamaican Government on the headquarters of the Authority, located at Kingston. In addition the Finance Committee, consisting of 15 members, will begin elaboration of the Authority's financial regulations.
At the outset, the Council will consider applications from a number of States for the extension of their provisional membership in the Authority. States automatically become members of the Authority when they adhere to the treaty that established it, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which entered into force in 1994. Other States that have not yet become party to the Convention may become provisional members of the
Authority by notifying it that they have been applying the Convention provisionally, subject to a finding by the Council that they have been making efforts in good faith to adhere to the Convention, as well as to the 1994 Agreement relating to implementation of Part XI (the seabed provisions) of the Convention. The Agreement entered into force in July 1996.
The Assembly is to elect a President for its 1997 session from the African Group. Its President for 1996 was Hasjim Djalal (Indonesia). Lennox Ballah (Trinidad and Tobago) continues as Council President; he was elected in August 1996 for a one-year term or until a successor is elected.
Mining Code
The draft regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the international seabed are intended as a legal foundation for a scheme that will ultimately guide all economic activities on the ocean floor in an area covering about 49 per cent of the earth's surface. That is the area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The Convention, and the 1994 Agreement on its implementation, establish a regime, with the Authority as controlling body, for regulating the conduct in that area of States and other entities, including international consortia and private national companies.
So far, exploration has concentrated on three zones covering only about 2 per cent of that vast area: the Clarion-Clipperton area between the west coast of the continental United States and Hawaii; the south-western Pacific basin; and the central Indian Ocean basin.
Between 1987 and 1994, even before the Convention took effect, the Preparatory Commission registered seven pioneer investors who expressed interest in exploring the area: India, IFREMER/AFERNOD (France), DORD (Japan), Yuzhmorgeologiya (Russian Federation), COMRA (China), Interoceanmetal Joint Organization (Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Russian Federation), and the Republic of Korea.
Before these and any other interested parties enter into formal contracts with the Authority, the process of awarding contracts, and the basic elements of their terms, must be set out in the regulations which the Authority will shortly consider. At this stage they deal only with prospecting and exploration, since commercial exploitation is not expected for well over a decade.
The draft regulations are based on work done between 1985 and 1993 in Special Commission 3 of the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as on the two basic treaties defining the functions of the Authority: the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994
- 3 - Press Release SEA/1536 13 March 1997
Implementation Agreement. The text will initially be considered at the forthcoming session by the Authority's 22-member Legal and Technical Commission.
The results are subject to approval by the Council and then by the Assembly of the Authority, probably at the second part of the third session, scheduled for Kingston in August. Regulations must be in place before the Authority can approve plans of work for exploration by registered pioneer seabed investors. The deadline for approval is November 1997.
According to the Secretariat's draft, mineral prospecting would be open to all, requiring only a notification to the Authority and an annual report. Prospectors would acquire no mineral rights, except in amounts used for testing.
To go beyond prospecting and engage in detailed exploration of particular areas, an investor, sponsored by a State, would have to apply to the Authority by submitting a plan of work. The plan would be subject to periodic review by the contractor and the Authority during the 15-year duration of exploration.
The plan would define the geographical area in which the contractor is interested, describe planned activities and set a date for completion. The applicant would be required to conduct a training programme open to persons from the Authority and developing States. An environmental impact statement would be another requirement, with zones set aside to assess the effects of potential mining operations on marine life, from plankton to fish.
The applicant would have to establish its financial and technical credentials to the satisfaction of the Council, which is charged with approving all plans of work. Each plan would first be examined by the Legal and Technical Commission. The Implementing Agreement of 1994 sets out special procedures to ease the approval process for plans submitted by pioneer investors; these are reflected in various provisions of the secretariat draft. Once approved by the Council, the plan of work would be set out in a contract between the Authority and the applicant. Contractors would be required to report each year on their activities, and promptly report any incident "likely to cause serious harm to the marine environment".
A distinctive feature of the regime established by the Convention is the requirement that every area assigned to a contractor must be large enough and have sufficient resources to support two mining operations, one of them reserved for use by the Authority or developing States. The Convention envisages the creation of a mining arm under the Authority's direct control, called the Enterprise. The 1994 Agreement provides that the initial activities of the Enterprise, when it is established, be limited to joint ventures with State or private entities.
- 4 - Press Release SEA/1536 13 March 1997
Institutional Matters
Aside from the mining code, the Council and Assembly will consider three instruments relating to the status of the Authority:
-- A protocol on the privileges and immunities of the Authority. It establishes the legal rights of the Authority and its staff in respect to the performance of their duties.
-- An agreement concerning the relationship between the United Nations and the Authority. As an autonomous intergovernmental organization, the Authority would agree with the United Nations on cooperation, coordination, reciprocal representation and exchange of information.
-- An agreement between the Authority and the Government of Jamaica on the headquarters of the Authority. It would establish the inviolability of the headquarters premises and communications, accord freedom of publication and broadcasting to the Authority and access by officials to its premises, exempt it from taxes and customs duties, and establish rights for its officials and those of national delegations. Similar privileges would be accorded to the Enterprise.
Membership
The 133 members of the Authority are (C = Council member [36]; P = provisional member [20]): Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina (C), Australia (C), Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh (C, P), Barbados, Belgium (C, P), Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil (C), Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia (P), Cameroon (C), Canada (P), Cape Verde, Chile (C, P), China (C), Comoros, Congo (P), Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba (C), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt (C), European Community (P), Fiji, Finland, France (C), Gabon (P), Gambia, Georgia, Germany (C), Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, India (C), Indonesia (C), Iraq, Ireland, Italy (C), Jamaica (C), Japan (C), Jordan, Kenya (C), Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic (P), Lebanon, Luxembourg (P), Malaysia (C), Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Myanmar.
Also Namibia (C), Nauru, Nepal (P), Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria (C), Norway, Oman (C), Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay (C), Philippines (C), Poland (C, P), Republic of Korea (C), Romania, Russian Federation (C, P), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal (C), Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Solomon Islands, South Africa (C, P), Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan (C), Suriname (P), Sweden, Switzerland (P), The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago (C), Tunisia (C), Uganda, Ukraine (C, P), United Arab Emirates (P), United Kingdom (C, P), United Republic of Tanzania, United States (C, P), Uruguay, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia (C) and Zimbabwe.
* *** *
- 5 - Press Release SEA/1536 13 March 1997