SEABED ASSEMBLY CONCLUDES 1997 SESSION AFTER ADOPTING 1998 BUDGET
Press Release
SEA/1568
SEABED ASSEMBLY CONCLUDES 1997 SESSION AFTER ADOPTING 1998 BUDGET
19970902 (Received from the International Seabed Authority.)KINGSTON, 29 August -- The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority ended its 1997 session at Kingston this morning by adopting a budget for 1998 and a scale of assessments of member States to finance it, and creating a working capital fund. It also approved a report by its Credentials Committee, and noted an unfinished text from its working group on a draft protocol on privileges and immunities.
The Assembly also decided that the term of office of those Council members that were elected for two years in 1996 would expire on 31 March 1998, with their successors to be elected on the last day of the next session. Finally, it agreed to hold a two-part session of the Authority next year, from 16 to 27 March, and again in August, tentatively from 17 to 28 August.
The Assembly approved, on the recommendation of the Council (ISBA/3/C/10; Assembly resolution in ISBA/3/A/L.5), a budget of the Authority for 1998 in the sum of $4,703,900, and the establishment of a working capital fund of $392,000. (Highlights of the budget are summarized in Press Release SEA/1567, of 29 August.)
The Assembly took note of Argentina's suggestion that assessed contributions should be payable on or "as soon as possible" after 1 January 1998. The Argentine representative said his Government would not be in a position to remit payment on 1 January because of the dates of its fiscal year.
The working capital fund, in a sum equal to one twelfth of the annual budget, is to be used to finance budgetary appropriations pending the receipt of contributions of members (ISBA/3/A/L.5). Members were asked to pay half of that amount in 1998 and the rest in 1999. Should the money in this fund not be enough to meet expenses, Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan was authorized to borrow from other funds under his custody, up to 20 per cent of the budget. Mr. Nandan told the Council yesterday that about $1.3 million was available from the fees paid by pioneer investors when they sought approval of their plans of exploratory work.
The Assembly also adopted a resolution (ISBA/3/A/L.6) containing a scale of assessments for the contributions of members to the 1998 budget and to the working capital fund for 1998 and 1999. Based on the United Nations scale, it sets amounts ranging from $1,175,975 for the United States (25 per cent) to $470 for each of the States paying at the minimum rate of 0.01 per cent. In accordance with an agreement reached in the Council yesterday, the amount payable by the European Community is set at $75,000.
The Chairman of the working group considering the draft protocol on the privileges and immunities of the Authority, Zdzislaw Galicki (Poland), presented a further revised draft in the form of a working paper which highlighted some new elements and previously listed provisions not fully agreed (ISBA/3/A/WP.1/Add.1). Taking note of the oral report, the Assembly also noted the considerable progress made by the group and asked it to conclude its work in the first part of the next session.
The Credentials Committee report (ISBA/3/A/7) was presented by its Chairman, Eheth Salomon (Cameroon). The Committee had accepted the credentials of the 74 States and the European Community represented at the August session. The Chairman noted that Zimbabwe had presented its credentials after the Committee had concluded its work, raising the number represented to 76.
Costa Rica expressed the view that permanent representatives to the Authority should not have to be accredited for each session. Secretary-General Nandan responded that the Authority followed the standard practices of the United Nations on this matter and that it was the responsibility of member States to indicate their participation in sessions.
The matter of the Council election was raised by the acting President of the Assembly, Jose Luis Vallarta (Mexico), who noted that the terms of half of its 36 members would end in 1998. He said some countries felt that Council members elected in March 1996 for a two-year term would not have served two complete years by the end of the current session and, thus, that their mandate should be extended to the last day of the March 1998 session. The Assembly would then elect new Council members. The President read from a secretariat document proposing 31 March as the fixed date for the incumbent members to leave office.
However, the regional groups expressed differing views on the matter and asked for a brief recess. As a result of their consultations, the 31 March date was agreed on for 1998 only, after which the Assembly would revisit the matter.
The representative of the Republic of Korea reminded the Assembly that his country had had strong reservations on the composition of the Council when its members were elected in 1996. He referred specifically to Council members
- 3 - Press Release SEA/1568 2 September 1997
from Group B, the eight States which have made the largest investments in the seabed area. Noting that some of these members had been elected for four years, he expressed concern that countries which became newly eligible for Group B membership during the four-year period might be prevented from seeking election to the Council until the expiration of the terms of Group B members now sitting on the Council, including those which had ceased to be eligible for Group B status.
Responding to this reservation, the representatives of the Netherlands and Sweden expressed concern at any attempt to reopen deals made in 1996 regarding Council membership.
Regarding the organization of work of the next session, Secretary-General Nandan said the plan was to give priority during the first week to the work of the Legal and Technical Commission and the working group on privileges and immunities, with the Assembly and Council to do most of its work in the final week.
* *** *