PRESIDENT OF SEABED AUTHORITY REPORTS AGREEMENT ON THREE-WEEK SESSION IN 1999
Press Release
SEA/1600
PRESIDENT OF SEABED AUTHORITY REPORTS AGREEMENT ON THREE-WEEK SESSION IN 1999
19980825 (Reissued as received.)KINGSTON, 24 August (International Seabed Authority) -- The President of the Council of the International Seabed Authority this afternoon informed the Council that in his informal consultations with heads of the regional groups agreement was reached that the Authority would meet next year in a single three-week session instead of two two-week sessions.
Council President Joachim Koch (Germany) said it had been agreed that during the 1999 session, priority would be given to work on the mining code and that this work would continue to take the form of informal meetings. He said the draft decision concerning the session, to be circulated tomorrow, will state that the Council, "taking into account the report of the Finance Committee and in view of the prevailing exceptional situation, recommends to the Assembly that there be one three-week session of the Authority in 1999".
In further discussions arising out of the Council's consideration of the report of the Finance Committee, the representative of the Russian Federation raised concerns with regard to the treatment of the European Community's contribution to the budget of the Authority. He noted that the Committee had not reached an agreement on whether the contribution should be incorporated into the scale of assessment or first deducted from the budget, after which the scale would be applied to States members. He felt that by failing to do so, the Committee had not fully discharged its task, and emphasized that a decision on the matter should be reached during this session.
The Russian Federation also noted that the Secretary-General had been requested to circulate two versions of the scale of assessments, one including the contributions of provisional members and the other based on the possibility of the termination of their provisional membership on 16 November 1998. He asked that the two scales be circulated as official documents attached to the decision of the Council. This would enable delegations to present a clearer picture to their Governments of the contributions they would be required to make.
Poland and Jamaica supported the position of the Russian Federation. However, the United States said that circulating the two different lists of
assessment rates as official documents could be viewed as discriminatory treatment of the provisional members.
Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan said it was it not possible to predict which provisional members would ratify the Convention and remain as members next year. He added that one member had said it might complete ratification within the next two months.
With regard to the Finance Committee's recommendation on the use of outsider auditors, Indonesia, speaking on behalf of the Asian group, stressed the need to ensure the independent character of the auditors while bearing in mind the issue of cost-effectiveness. In response to the Secretary-General's statement that the use of the United Nations auditor did not represent the most cost-effective option, the representative of Jamaica urged that every effort be made to contract this service locally.
Continued Review of Mining Code Provisions
Informal discussions on the draft mining code followed the debate on the budget, with the Council continuing deliberation on regulation 18, concerning consideration by the Legal and Technical Commission of proposed plans of work.
Paragraph 8, on compliance by contractors, attracted some attention following on a suggestion on Friday that the paragraph be amended to read as follows:
"If the Commission decides to deny an application from any potential contractor, that applicant will be informed through the Secretary-General, indicating the reasons for the refusal. The applicant may within 45 days modify the application and/or make a response to the Commission."
With regard to paragraph 6 of regulation 18, a number of delegations felt that specific references should be made to the interests of coastal States and ecological concerns, and some sought clarification on the distinction between the Area and national jurisdiction.
Regulation 19, on consideration and approval by the Council, attracted a proposal for an amendment to read as follows:
"In considering such recommendation, the Council should have regard for the principles, policies and objectives of Part XI of Annex 3 of the Convention and the Agreement. Account should also be taken of the legitimate interest of concerned States." Moving to Part IV of the draft mining code, the Council considered regulation 20, the contract, with some delegations calling for the words "unreasonably interfere" to be deleted. They argued that there was no clear-cut method for deciding how another entity could "unreasonably interfere" in the operations of the contractor. * *** *