COUNCIL OF SEABED AUTHORITY NOTES APPROVAL OF WORK PLANS BY SEVEN PIONEER INVESTORS
Press Release
SEA/1565
COUNCIL OF SEABED AUTHORITY NOTES APPROVAL OF WORK PLANS BY SEVEN PIONEER INVESTORS
19970829 KINGSTON, 27 August -- The Council of the International Seabed Authority, meeting at Kingston, decided without objection this evening to note that the plans of work submitted by all seven registered pioneer investors for exploring areas of the international seabed "are considered to be approved".The Council acted on a report and recommendations of the Legal and Technical Commission (document ISBA/3/C/7), which reviewed the investors' requests for approval of their plans and recommended that they be considered approved.
The Council requested the Secretary-General of the Authority, Satya N. Nandan, to take steps to issue the plans of work in the form of contracts. These contracts, the decision stated, would incorporate obligations spelt out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI (seabed provisions) of the Convention, and resolution II of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. (Resolution II, adopted in 1982 along with the Convention, governs preparatory investment in pioneer activities relating to polymetallic nodules.) The text added that this step would be taken in accordance with the deep seabed mining code to be approved by the Council.
The decision taken today was based on a draft (document ISBA/3/C/5/Rev.1) circulated by Council President Lennox Ballah (Trinidad and Tobago). The reference to the three earlier instruments was inserted into the clause concerning contracts, on a compromise proposal by Kenneth Rattray (Jamaica). After consultations during a recess in the meeting, the amendment was accepted by France on behalf of the States sponsoring the pioneer investors.
In appealing to delegates to adopt the decision, the President of the Council said the proposed amendment by Jamaica pointed a way forward for the Council to approve the plans of work, subject to conditions which would be taken up in the mining code.
The Council acted after a discussion of its precise role in the process of approving contracts, with some developing States expressing concern that the Council was being asked to act without all the information it needed, while many developed countries, including sponsors of pioneer investors, recalled that nearly automatic approval of plans of work was provided for in
the Agreement, which states that such plans "shall be considered to be approved".
At the start of the meeting, the Council recessed for nearly an hour to allow its members to peruse folders containing information supplied by the Commission regarding individual plans of work. These documents have not been made public.
The seven pioneer investors whose plans were the subject of the Council's action were registered between 1987 and 1994 by the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In order of approval, they are: the Government of India; French Institute of Research for the Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER)/French Association of Studies and Research of Nodules (AFERNOD); Deep Ocean Resources Development Co., Ltd. (DORD), Japan; Yuzhmorgeologiya, Russian Federation; China Ocean Minerals Research and Development Association (COMRA); Interoceanmetal Joint Organization, consisting of Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Poland, Russian Federation and the Slovak Republic; and the Government of the Republic of Korea.
On another matter, there was no objection to a suggestion by Secretary- General Nandan that, in the case of provisional members of the Authority which were in the process of adhering to the Law of the Sea Convention, but did not do so before their current membership status ran out in November, their provisional membership should be extended until the Council was able to consider their status at its next session in 1998. (Provisional membership is granted by the Council to States that have not yet adhered to the Convention, but declared their intention of becoming parties.)
Nigeria was the first country today to voice its dissatisfaction with the information package provided to each member about the plans of work. Its representative said the documents provided no information that could guide his judgement and described them as a catalogue of ideas incomprehensible to the reader who was not privy to the intent of the pioneer investor. He added that the Implementation Agreement had in effect precluded the Council from taking part in the approval process.
Kenya shared the sentiments of Nigeria and added that insufficient time had been given for perusal of the documents which, in his view, were in no way confidential. He wished to be more fully informed about the training programmes to be undertaken by the pioneer investors, stressing the importance of these programmes to developing countries. Other representatives, including those of Chile, Zambia and Brazil, also regretted the lack of more detailed information.
The Russian Federation expressed concern that the debate was an attempt to do away with certain provisions of the Implementation Agreement. He said
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the Legal and Technical Commission had the responsibility to consider investors' applications and apply its expertise in arriving at a decision. This position was supported by the United Kingdom, which pointed out that the draft model contract was very detailed and would address many of the concerns voiced by Council members.
The United States, expressing concern at some trends in the debate, said the Authority had to present an attractive package for potential private investors. Its purpose must be to promote seabed exploration for the benefit of humanity.
In response to some of the queries, Secretary-General Nandan explained that further details would eventually be published in the form of schedules attached to each contract issued to pioneer investors. These schedules would include the geographical coordinates of each contractor's area of operation, the plan of work and the immediate programme of work, and the training programme to be carried out. He noted that some details of the training programme to be undertaken by the Republic of Korea, in its capacity as a pioneer investor, were contained in a recently circulated document.
Replying to a question by Indonesia as to whether the contracts, along with their annexes, would be public documents once they were issued, the Council President replied that that would be the case.
The representative of Jamaica, explaining the amendment subsequently accepted by the Council, said approval of the plans of work did not preclude the pioneer investors from fulfilling their obligations and responsibilities under the Convention, the Agreement and resolution II. They would be expected to submit annual reports, details of their exploratory activities, information about new technological developments and periodic environmental impact statements.
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