SEABED ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP; SOUTH PACIFIC COMMISSION GETS OBSERVER STATUS

Press Release
SEA/1580

SEABED ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP; SOUTH PACIFIC COMMISSION GETS OBSERVER STATUS

(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)

KINGSTON, 24 March -- The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston this afternoon, took up a proposal on the composition of the Authority's 36-member Council, but postponed a decision until later this week. The proposal, suggested by Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan after consultation with regional groups, aims at regularizing the terms of office of Council members to coincide with the calendar year.

When the Assembly elected the initial membership in 1996, it chose members to retire from the Council after two and four years, respectively, but did not set a date for the end of the terms. Under the proposed system, the term of office of members elected this year would commence on 1 January 1999 for a period of four calendar years, while the term of those elected in 1996 for two years would end on 31 December 1998. The term of members elected in 1996 for four years would end on 31 December 2000.

Some delegations, including Chile and Indonesia, accepted the proposal, with the proviso that this solution should not become a precedent to be invoked at a later date. However, other countries, such as Egypt, Italy, Sudan and Tunisia, sought more time to consider the proposal, or suggested modifications or additions in the interest of clarity. They were concerned that the new system should not affect arrangements agreed in 1996 under which certain members were to relinquish their seats to others before serving a full term. It was also noted that the document made no mention of when the 1998 election would be held.

The President, Tadeusz Bachleda-Curus (Poland), read out a statement that the Assembly's decision would not, in any way, affect the arrangements reached in interest or regional groups regarding any of the seats on the Council.

Also this afternoon, the Assembly, by acclamation, elected nine members to serve on the Credentials Committee for the 1998 session. They are Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Gabon, Japan and Kenya.

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On another matter, the Assembly approved a request by the Permanent Commission of the South Pacific (ISBA/4/A/INF/2), a subregional organization comprising Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, for observer status with the Authority. This brings to nine the number of intergovernmental organizations having a standing invitation to participate as observers in the sessions and work of the Assembly.

Council Continues Discussion of Mining Code

At an afternoon meeting of the Council, South Africa and Paraguay continued the discussion on the draft mining code for polymetallic nodules.

South Africa suggested refinement of regulations affecting the environment, training programmes for developing States and confidentiality of information presented by pioneer investors. It saw a need to incorporate the precautionary principle into part V of the code, dealing with the protection and preservation of the marine environment. The question of who would finance the training programmes also needed to be resolved. "In our view, the contractor and not the Authority should bear the responsibility for this most important task", South Africa said. Moreover, the draft appeared to strip away the role of the Authority in monitoring and regulating the resources of the international seabed area.

Paraguay said it needed to take a close look at the proposed code in light of the country's geographical position.

India indicated its wish to attend the Council as an observer when its current term expires this year.

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