SEABED AUTHORITY'S COUNCIL DISCUSSES SCALE OF ASSESSMENTS FOR 1999
Press Release
SEA/1604
SEABED AUTHORITY'S COUNCIL DISCUSSES SCALE OF ASSESSMENTS FOR 1999
19980828 (Reissued as received.)KINGSTON, 27 August (International Seabed Authority) -- Debate concerning the scale of assessed contributions to be paid by members for the 1999 budget of the International Seabed Authority dominated the discussions at this morning's Council meeting.
Conflicting views prevented the Council from reaching a consensus on whether the Authority's scale, apportioning costs of the 1999 budget, should be based on the United Nations scale of assessments for 1998 or the scale for 1999. The Russian Federation, on behalf of the Eastern European group, argued that the 1999 scale should be used and submitted an amendment to that effect. Other groups favoured the 1998 scale, as provided for in the draft decision on the budget (document ISBA/4/C/L.2/Rev. 1) proposed by Council President, Joachim Koch (Germany).
Further consultations within and among groups were held after the meeting in an effort to resolve the disagreement, so that action on the budget can be taken by the 36-member Council and then by the Assembly, composed of all Authority members.
The Council also heard the report of the Chairman of its Legal and Technical Commission, M. Jean-Pierre Lenoble (France), on the work of the Commission.
Chile, Oman, the Netherlands and Nigeria, speaking for their regional groups, supported the use of the United Nations 1998 scale of assessments as the basis for the Authority's scale for contributions to the proposed $5,011,700 budget for next year. Among the delegations endorsing this view were Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and the United States. They expressed the view that it would be simpler and more logical to continue with the practice of using the United Nations scale of the previous year, as had been done for the Authority's 1998 budget. This is also the practice followed in other international agencies such as the Tribunal on the Law of the Sea and the International Atomic Energy Agency, they noted.
Some speakers said the 1999 United Nations scale would not be definite until the end of this year. This delay would create administrative problems for the Secretariat and would not give sufficient time for members to pay their contributions in a timely manner. [The United Nations General Assembly last December approved the United Nations assessment scales for 1998, 1999 and 2000, but the scales for 1999 and 2000 are subject to possible review later this year.]
The representative of Poland, in his capacity of head of the Eastern European group, said that group could not agree with a decision to base the Authority's scale for the 1999 budget on the United Nations scale for 1998. He said Article 160, paragraph 2(e), of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea set a clear principle for a close linkage between the Authority's scale and that of the United Nations. He pointed out that it was the President's proposal, and not the report of the Finance Committee (ISBA/4/A/13/Rev.1-ISBA/4/C/10/Rev.1), that first made mention of the year 1998 with reference to the United Nations scale of assessment. Any decision concerning the method of establishing a scale of assessments to be adopted should be based on legal principles contained in the Convention, he added.
The Russian Federation said that the Authority had used the previous year's United Nations scale only once, and that that did not constitute an established practice. In his view, there was no reason for the Authority to follow the example of United Nations agencies rather than that of the Organization itself. He proposed an amendment to the draft decision which would call for the use of the current United Nations scale each year.
The President of the Council suggested that the heads of regional groups should meet in informal consultations, along with the delegations of Austria, Jamaica, Japan, the Russian Federation and South Africa in an effort to resolve the issue.
Report of Legal and Technical Commission
Presenting his report on the work of the Legal and Technical Commission, the Chairman said that during the second week of the current set of meetings, the Commission had considered several issues: the selection of candidates for the training programme scheduled for March 1999 in the Republic of Korea; the rules of procedure for the Commission; and the reports submitted by registered pioneer investors during 1997 and 1998.
On the matter of the selection of candidates for training, the Chairman informed the meeting that, on the basis of the principles and guidelines established by the Preparatory Commission, eight candidates had been selected for training in the areas of marine geology, marine geophysics and electrical engineering. He noted that two of the candidates were from countries which were provisional members of the Authority. As such, the Commission
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recommended to the Secretary-General that if the status of those countries had not changed after 16 November 1998, the training should be offered to the next candidates on the list. The candidates (including alternates) are from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, Ukraine and Uruguay.
The Commission also examined the reports of the registered pioneer investors, including the periodic reports of Deep Ocean Resources Development Company Ltd. (DORD), Japan; Yuzhmorgeologiya, Russian Federation; and China Ocean Minerals Research and Development Association (COMRA). These reports were found to be consistent with the terms of Resolution 2 and the agreements reached with the pioneer investors. [The reports are not public documents.]
With regard to the rules of procedure of the Commission, M. Lenoble reported that the Commission had studied and finalized a draft which would be submitted to the Council at the next session of the Authority.
One question was raised in the consideration of other issues considered by the Commission. This concerned confidential data submitted to the Authority by one pioneer investor. The Chairman requested the Secretariat to prepare a report on whether this data belonged henceforth to the Authority or to the pioneer investor.
The representative of Jamaica, supported by Brazil, asked that the revised draft of the rules of procedure of the Legal and Technical Commission be circulated to members in all official languages of the Authority well ahead of the 1999 session. In response to that request, the Secretary of the Council stated that an informal text of the revised draft would be available tomorrow in English, and in all languages by October.
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