PRESIDENT OF SEABED COUNCIL TO SEEK COMPROMISE ON QUESTION OF NON-MEMBER OBSERVERS IN LEGAL AND TECHNICAL COMMISSION
Press Release
SEA/1557
PRESIDENT OF SEABED COUNCIL TO SEEK COMPROMISE ON QUESTION OF NON-MEMBER OBSERVERS IN LEGAL AND TECHNICAL COMMISSION
19970820 KINGSTON, 19 August -- The President of the Council of the International Seabed Authority, Lennox Ballah (Trinidad and Tobago), will seek a compromise on the issue of observer status for non-members in the Legal and Technical Commission. His aim is to avert what he called a possible confrontation between the Commission and the "Group of 77" developing countries. Mr. Ballah will meet with the Chairmen of the Commission and the Group, as well as with observers from each side, and convene the Council again on 20 August, if necessary.The President announced his intention following discussion in the Council of a statement made on behalf of the Commission Chairman, Jean-Pierre Lenoble (France), giving that body's unanimous view that it preferred to continue to work in closed session.
In the statement, read to the Council by the Secretary-General of the Authority, Satya N. Nandan, the Commission said the issue was not one of confidentiality, as stated by the "Group of 77", but the encouragement of free and frank discussions during its deliberations. It said written submissions on the draft regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the area would be accepted from any member State and considered by the Commission. That body undertook to provide as much information as possible to the Council in the form of reports.
Today's position of the Commission met with strong objections from the "Group of 77". Its Chairman, Milton Rondó Filho (Brazil), who yesterday reintroduced the proposal that non-members be allowed to send observers to the Commission, called on the Council to take responsibility since the Commission had failed to act. He said the issue, if left unresolved, would become the first obstacle in the Council's deliberations on a deep seabed mining code.
The representatives of India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya and Nigeria participated in the debate on the side of the "Group of 77". The representative of Jamaica said transparency, freedom of information, and the right of every member to participate and to discuss the procedures sensibly were among the core concerns on the observer issue. The representative of Kenya feared that a denial of the request for observers might work to the detriment of the Commission when its recommendations came to the Council.
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The representative of Indonesia, which suggested that consultations be held between the Chairmen of the two groups, described the debate as painful and warned against the consequences of confrontation.
The representative of Japan, Poland and the United States welcomed the position of the Commission, noting that it was unanimous, consistent with its response in March, and should be respected. There would be ample opportunity, they said, for the Council to review the recommendations of the Commission. They urged members, in the interest of time and the credibility of the Authority, to avoid confrontation on the issue.
The representative of United States said the position taken by the Commission dealt adequately with the need to provide the Council with information. The representative of Poland, noting that the Commission was a body made up of independent experts elected for their technical knowledge, said the privacy of its meetings fostered the necessary balance between political and technical concerns; the inclusion of observers could be interpreted as an attempt to control the Commission's work.
The representative of the United Kingdom supported the suggestion of Indonesia that the Council President should use his good offices to mediate a compromise and said that confrontation would only discredit the Authority in the eyes of potential investors. The Australian representative said his delegation shared some of the concerns of the "Group of 77" but favoured the input of ideas to the Commission in the spirit of cooperation. His country had prepared a detailed critique of the mining code and would request the opportunity to send a technical expert to present its paper to the Commission.
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