SEABED COUNCIL CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF MINING CODE

Press Release
SEA/1579

SEABED COUNCIL CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF MINING CODE

KINGSTON, 24 March --The need for a balanced approach to management of the world's marine mineral resources was a central theme, as the Council of the International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston this morning, continued its general discussion of the draft mining code for polymetallic nodules. Several delegations pointed to the need for regulations that would serve the needs of all interest groups and countries, while reflecting the spirit of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Council heard comments from the representatives of China, France, Germany, Jamaica, Senegal and Tunisia, as well as observers from Peru and the Netherlands. They raised a range of issues, including protection of the environment, training programmes to be conducted by contractors, confidentiality of data, the role of the Authority in monitoring seabed activities, and prospects for exploring resources other than polymetallic nodules.

The draft regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the international seabed area were submitted yesterday by the Legal and Technical Commission. The Council is hearing general comments before embarking on detailed discussion of the 33 individual regulations and annexed documents.

In this morning's discussion, China said that those countries able to invest in seabed mining should be encouraged to do so in order to create better conditions for the sustainable development of mankind as a whole. As the code was intended to cover prospecting and exploration only, it should not attempt to regulate situations that might occur only later, during the exploitation stage.

Tunisia called for special attention to be given to the implementation of environmental measures from the standpoint of prevention in the long and short term. It welcomed plans for workshops on environmental guidelines, which should be mandatory and not just desirable. Training programmes were of crucial importance for developing countries if they were to participate fully in the management of seabed resources. In Tunisia's view, the draft mining code placed too much emphasis on the issue of confidentiality of prospectors'

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information. Cooperation and international solidarity rather than confidentiality should be regarded as the supreme value.

Jamaica expressed concern that the role of the Authority was being confined to the registration and verification of documents, rather than its broader mandate of monitoring and regulating activities in the area.

Senegal cited the need for provisions in the code that would force contractors to take financial responsibility for environmental damage.

The observer from Peru expressed concern that rules and regulations that should determine the mode of operation of contractors in the seabed were being reduced to mere guidelines. Highlighting the need for balance, he observed that the draft mining code had few provisions to serve the interest of developing States. Further, Peru would like to see the rules of procedure of the Legal and Technical Commission amended to allow members submitting comments or observations to have the right to introduce and explain their observations in the Commission.

The observer from the Netherlands was concerned about the degree of clarity of the text and its lack of consistency with the Convention. She supported the view of China and Senegal that the code should be more explicit in avoiding any attempt to deal with exploitation.

Germany suggested that the Council defer the fulfilment of certain obligations, which, under normal circumstances, would have been fulfilled by mining companies in due course, since exploitation was still far in the future. Some of those obligations would be met when commercial entities acquired sufficient knowledge about the impact of seabed activities on the marine environment.

France supported the provisions on training programmes to be conducted by contractors, but wanted to ensure that a system was in place for the transfer of knowledge. Like other countries, France also called for more precise wording in some areas of the mining code.

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