'GROUP OF 77' ASKS THAT OBSERVERS BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND MEETINGS OF LEGAL AND TECHNICAL COMMISSION
Press Release
SEA/1546
'GROUP OF 77' ASKS THAT OBSERVERS BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND MEETINGS OF LEGAL AND TECHNICAL COMMISSION
19970326 Headquarters Agreement Will Not Be Completed This Week, Council President Says; Pending Issues Include Right to Raise Funds in Host Country(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)
KINGSTON, 25 March -- The "Group of 77" developing countries and China requested the Council of the International Seabed Authority this afternoon to consider including non-members of the Legal and Technical Commission as observers in meetings of that expert body. The 22-member Commission, which meets in closed session, is currently considering a draft mining code for deep seabed prospecting and exploration. The proposal was made by the representative of Brazil in his capacity as Chairman of the Group of 77, at today's meeting of the Council at Kingston.
The proposal prompted an immediate response from Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan. He reported that his earlier consultations with the Chairman of the Legal and Technical Commission and subsequent discussions among its members had resulted in a unanimous decision not to allow observers. Members of the Commission had agreed, however, that progress reports should be made at the request of the Council, the first of which had been presented yesterday, 24 March.
On another topic, the President, Lennox Ballah (Trinidad and Tobago), told the Council that although agreement had been reached on some changes to the draft headquarters agreement between the Authority and the Government of Jamaica, remaining differences on other points would make it impossible to conclude a final text before the second part of the Authority's session, in August.
In the discussion on attendance of meetings of the Legal and Technical Commission, the representative of France noted that all members of the Council had been present at the August 1996 session when the conditions for appointing members to the Commission were established. He pointed out that the duty of the Commission was to make proposals to the Council, which must then
deliberate on such proposals. He supported the plan for the Commission's Chairman to report to the Council whenever he was requested to do so and suggested that the reports could be more comprehensive. He understood the desire of members not sitting on the Commission to hear its deliberations, given the importance of the issues involved. However, he urged the Council to respect the unanimous views of the Commission on that matter, as any attempt to change its modus operandi would create a precedent for similar bodies of the Authority.
The representative of Nigeria supported the proposal made by the Group of 77, saying that no delegation should be denied the right to observer status if the issue being discussed was of interest to that delegation. Referring to what he saw as the imbalance of membership on the Commission, he pointed out that members, though chosen for their professional expertise, were none the less answerable to their governments and therefore could not operate in a political vacuum. He also expressed concern that the exclusion of members at those initial stages of discussion on a mining code would defeat the effort to preserve the common heritage.
The representative of Australia said that while the concerns of the Group of 77 were legitimate, his delegation would draw a clear distinction between discussions on general issues, such as the mining code, and those on more sensitive issues that would take place later.
The Indonesian representative suggested that at least Council members with specific interests should be allowed to hear the deliberations of the Commission. He argued in support of a view expressed by Brazil that advanced knowledge of significant issues at the level of the Commission would lead to more insightful discussions in the Council.
Other matter dealt with by the Council today concerned the headquarters agreement between the Authority and the Government of Jamaica. The Council President, Mr. Ballah, reported that there were a few outstanding issues that needed to be resolved, and referred specifically to articles 2, 12 and 16 (e), which were being reserved for further review. Those provisions deal respectively with temporary and permanent areas for the seat of the Authority, the right of the Authority to convene meetings and the right of the Authority to raise funds within the host country. The President mentioned a number of changes that had been made to the text of the Agreement and undertook to report orally to the Council on Thursday, 27 March, after further consultations with the Jamaican representatives.
Referring to security arrangements for the Authority's premises during periods between its sessions, a matter raised in the Council last week, the representative of Jamaica informed the Council that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Commissioner of Police would meet with the Secretary-General on the matter.
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In reply to a statement by the representative of Germany that his Government would not take a decision on the headquarters agreement in isolation from the pending draft Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the Authority, the President emphasized that the issues surrounding those agreements were not likely to be resolved before the August session.
The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for Thursday morning.
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