SEABED AUTHORITY WILL ACT ON MINING CODE AS RESUMED SESSION IN KINGSTON; RULES TO GOVERN EXTRACTION OF OCEAN RESOURCES
Press Release
SEA/1555
SEABED AUTHORITY WILL ACT ON MINING CODE AS RESUMED SESSION IN KINGSTON; RULES TO GOVERN EXTRACTION OF OCEAN RESOURCES
19970815 KINGSTON, 14 August -- Consideration and approval of 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, is the main goal of a two-week series of meetings of the International Seabed Authority, to be held at its headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, from 18 to 29 August.A set of 40 draft regulations, drawn up in March by the Authority's Legal and Technical Commission, will be finalized by the Commission and then examined by the 36-member Council of the Authority and by the Assembly, composed of all 135 members of the Authority. The Commission will also consider draft standard terms for exploration contracts.
All three of these bodies, along with the Finance Committee, will meet in the next two weeks during the resumed third session of the Authority. The first part of the annual session was held at Kingston in March.
The Finance Committee is to examine the proposed budget of the Authority for 1998, the first year that it will be funded as an independent organization separate from the United Nations. The Authority's Secretary-General, Satya N. Nandan, has submitted a budget of nearly $5.4 million, subject to approval by the Council and Assembly. Up for approval as well is the scale of assessments by which these expenses are to be borne by the member States.
Also during the coming meetings, the Authority's two main intergovernmental bodies are to resume consideration of two proposed legal instruments on which they began work in March; a protocol on privileges and immunities, spelling out the status of officials and their activities, and an agreement with the Government of Jamaica on the headquarters of the Authority. The Finance Committee is to take up draft financial regulations for the Authority.
In his annual report to the Assembly, Secretary-General Nandan notes that the Authority has largely completed the organizational phase and has embarked on its substantive work. In addition to preparation of the mining code by the Legal and Technical Commission, the secretariat has moved towards establishing a database of deep seabed resources -- styled POLYDAT, for information on polymetallic nodules -- and is formulating draft guidelines to
assess the environmental impact of activities in the area. Workshops on this topic and on the progress of deep seabed mining technology are foreseen for 1998.
The Seabed Authority was established under Part XI (seabed provisions) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a 1982 intergovernmental treaty that entered into force in 1994. Its other governing instrument is the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the Convention, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994 and in effect since July 1996. These treaties define the Authority as the organization through which States Parties to the Convention shall organize and control activities in the international area, particularly with a view to administering its resources.
The President of the Assembly for 1997 is S. Amos Wako (Kenya). The Council President is Lennox Ballah (Trinidad and Tobago).
Mining Code
The draft regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the area -- as the deep seabed mining code is formally known -- lay down the terms under which States and mining companies will be able to search for deposits rich in manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper lying on or just below the ocean floor miles below the surface. Prominent among the provisions are measures to protect the marine environment.
While the seabed area beyond national jurisdiction covers nearly half the earth's surface, three sectors making up 2 per cent of the area are of primary interest for potentially exploitable minerals, according to the Secretary-General's annual report: 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. Other areas showing potential are the Peru basin, in the Pacific, and parts of the South Atlantic Ocean and the central south equatorial Indian Ocean.
Between 1987 and 1994, even before the Law of the Sea Convention took effect, seven "pioneer investors" that had expressed interest in exploring the area were registered by the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In order of approval, these entities were: India; IFREMER/AFERNOD (France); DORD (Japan); Yuzhmorgeologiya (Russian Federation); China Ocean Minerals Research and Development Association (COMRA); Interoceanmetal Joint Organization (IOM), consisting of Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Poland, Russian Federation and Slovakia, and the Republic of Korea.
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Draft regulations were initially prepared by Special Commission 3 of the Preparatory Commission between 1985 and 1993. The secretariat of the Authority submitted a revised draft which was the basis of work for the Legal and Technical Commission in March. The Commission prepared a new provisional text that was circulated to all members of the Authority following the March meetings. The Commission is expected to refine this draft during the first week of the forthcoming session, after which the text will go to the Council.
Priority is being given to this task because the implementation agreement adopted in 1994 requires pioneer investors wishing to explore the area to request the Authority's approval of a plan of work no later than three years after the Convention entered into force. This deadline for submitting requests expires on 16 November 1997. The next step, according to the Convention and Agreement, will be for the Authority to issue each plan of work in the form of a contract. To facilitate this task, the secretariat, at the Commission's request, has submitted a draft standard terms of exploration contract for that body's approval.
According to the Commission's draft regulations, mineral prospecting would be open to all, requiring only a notification to the Authority and an annual report. Prospectors could recover minerals for testing but would acquire no commercial rights.
To go beyond prospecting and engage in detailed exploration of particular areas, an investor, sponsored by one or more States, would have to apply to the Authority by submitting a plan of work and paying a fee of $250,000. Each plan, when converted into a contract between the Authority and the investor, would be valid for 15 years and limited to 150,000 square kilometres. It would define the geographical area in which the contractor was interested and describe planned activities.
An environmental impact statement would be another requirement, with zones set aside to assess the effects of activities on marine life, from plankton to fish. Regular monitoring of such effects would be required throughout the life of the contract. The contractor would be required to conduct a training programme open to persons from the Authority and developing States.
Each contractor would report annually to the Legal and Technical Commission and would be required to send data, along with ore samples, to the Authority. Contractors would also have to accept on-board inspectors from the Authority to ensure compliance and monitor environmental effects.
A distinctive feature of the regime established by the Convention is the requirement that every area applied for by 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
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envisages the creation of a mining arm under the Authority's direct control, called the Enterprise. The implementation agreement provides that the initial activities of the Enterprise, when it is established, be limited to joint ventures with States or private entities.
In addition to the recognized pioneer investors, applications could be received from any qualified States, mining companies or consortia. The draft regulations cover only prospecting and exploration at this stage, as actual exploitation is not expected for a number of years.
One matter left unsettled in March is a proposal by the "Group of 77" developing countries and China that the Council consider including non-members of the Commission as observers in meetings of that body, which consists of 22 persons elected by the Council in their expert capacity. The Commission meets in closed session. Its Chairman is Jean-Pierre Lenoble (France).
Aside from the mining code, the Commission will consider periodic reports from two pioneer investors, COMRA and the Republic of Korea; a report on the Korean training programme, and reports by COMRA and IOM on relinquished areas. The latter relates to a provision in the Convention whereby half of the exploration area assigned to each investor must be returned in segments over an eight-year period.
Budget and Assessments
The budget proposal of Secretary-General Nandan calls for net expenditures of $5,375,200, compared to $4,150,000 in 1997. Of the total, $3.6 million covers administrative expenses, including $1.7 million for salaries, and the remaining $1.8 million is for conference servicing. He plans to add nine posts to the currently authorized staff of 30, in line with an "evolutionary approach" endorsed by the Assembly last August that would enable the Authority to assume its functions gradually over its first three years as an autonomous organization (1997-1999).
Noting that 1998 will be the first year in which the Authority's expenditures will not be covered by the United Nations budget, the Secretary-General proposes a scale of assessments apportioning expenses among all member States in accordance with the United Nations scale. Assessments for 1998 would range from $531 for those at the bottom of the scale to $1.3 million for the United States, at 25 per cent of the total. He also proposes to create a separate $447,900 working capital fund (calculated on the basis of one-twelfth of the 1998 budget), similarly shared among members, to help pay the bills pending the arrival of assessed contributions.
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Institutional Matters
Four other texts pertaining to the functions and status of the Authority will be taken up:
-- A draft agreement with the Government of Jamaica on the headquarters of the Authority. This covers the legal status of the Authority's establishment in Jamaica, including its current rented premises in Kingston and any future permanent location in the country. It deals with the status and privileges of officials, the establishment of diplomatic missions by member States, security and dispute settlement. Action on a 54-article draft by the secretariat was put off in March after inconclusive discussions on the adequacy of protection provided for the premises and alternative sites which the Government might offer. The Finance Committee is to hear a report on options for the headquarters location.
-- A draft protocol on the privileges and immunities of the Authority. This will establish the legal rights of the Authority and its staff in respect to the performance of their duties. An earlier draft based on the work of the Preparatory Commission was criticized by some countries in March as duplicating provisions in the Law of the Sea Convention. The latest version, containing 13 articles, covers matters not dealt with in the Convention, notably the privileges and immunities of members' representatives, officials and experts, and the use of laissez-passer (travel documents) by secretariat staff.
-- Draft financial regulations. These will govern the authorization, expenditure and control of funds. The 15 members of the Finance Committee, meeting in closed session under the chairmanship of S. Rama Rao (India), will continue the work on this text that it began in March.
-- Draft rules of procedure of the Legal and Technical Commission. These will be considered by that body and then by the Council.
Members of the Authority
The 135 members of the Authority are (C = Council member [36]; P = provisional member [17]):
Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina (C), Australia (C), Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh (C, P), Barbados, Belarus (P), Belgium (C, P), Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil (C), Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cameroon (C), Canada (P), Cape Verde, Chile (C, P), China (C), Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba (C), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt (C), Equatorial Guinea, European Community (P), Fiji, Finland, France (C), Gabon (P), Gambia, Georgia, Germany (C), Ghana, Greece, Grenada,
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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, Malaysia (C), Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar;
Also Namibia (C), Nauru, Nepal (P), Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria (C), Norway, Oman (C), Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay (C), Philippines (C), Poland (C, P), Qatar (P), Republic of Korea (C), Romania, Russian Federation (C), 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, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa (C, P), Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan (C), 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, Zambia (C) and Zimbabwe.
All States parties to the Law of the Sea Convention are members of the Authority. In addition, provisional members are States (and the European Community) that have not adhered to the Convention but have notified in writing their intent to apply it and the implementation agreement provisionally. Provisional membership must be approved in each case by the Council, usually for two years but in some cases for one year.
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NOTE:The United Kingdom, now a provisional member, will become a regular member on 24 August, 30 days after receipt of its instrument of ratification of the Convention.