COUNCIL POSTPONES ACTION ON BUDGET, RESUMES WORK ON MINING CODE
Press Release
SEA/1643
COUNCIL POSTPONES ACTION ON BUDGET, RESUMES WORK ON MINING CODE
19990825(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)
KINGSTON, 24 August -- The Council of the International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston this afternoon, put off a decision on the Authority's budget for 2000 and the related issue of whether it should hold one or two sessions next year, to allow delegations time to consult with their Governments.
The Council, which will return to the matter tomorrow morning, 25 August, agreed on this course after hearing its President, Charles Manjang D'Awol (Sudan), announce that a compromise had been reached at an informal meeting with the regional groups to have two sessions next year and a budget reduced to $5,275,200.
Following its formal meeting, the Council resumed its informal consultations on the mining code for exploratory work on polymetallic nodules in the international seabed area. Continuing its second reading of the draft (ISBA/5/C/4 and Corr.1), it completed discussion on a definition of "precautionary measures" to be taken when serious or irreversible damage threatens the marine environment.
Budget and Sessions for 2000
At the start of the formal meeting, the Council President reported the results of an informal meeting he had just held with the heads of all regional groups, the Council's four vice-presidents and the Secretary-General. The meeting followed an inconclusive discussion in the Council this morning.
The President announced that a compromise had been reached on the budget and the number of sessions of the Authority in 2000. Agreement on two sessions was linked to acceptance of a total budget of $5,275,200, down 5 per cent from the already reduced figure of $5,439,200 proposed earlier by the Secretary-General (ISBA/5/A/2/Add.1 - ISBA/5/C/2/Add.1). He added that the compromise was also based on an understanding that deliberations on the mining code would be completed next year. In the ensuing discussion, several delegates indicated that they could not join a consensus on the matter. Some called for one session lasting only two weeks. The United Kingdom said that if the Council agreed on having two sessions the budget must not exceed $5,175,200 and a meeting plan for the sessions must be produced. The United Kingdom representative also stressed the importance of collecting unpaid contributions.
Chile agreed on the principle of a clearly established plan of work, saying the inter-sessional period could be used by experts to fine-tune elements of the mining code. Nigeria said any further reduction in the budget would make it impossible for the Authority to manage its resources.
Precautionary Measures for Environmental Protection
Resuming informal consultations on the definition in the mining code for "precautionary measures", several delegations reiterated their view that the relevant subparagraph was more of a recommendation than a definition and would be more appropriately dealt with in regulation 32, which concerns the protection and preservation of the marine environment. Most speakers today endorsed a proposal by one delegation to amend that regulation. The proposal reads:
"1. In the conduct of activities in the [international seabed] Area the precautionary principle shall be applied to protect and preserve the marine environment, by virtue of which cost-effective preventive measures are to be taken when there are reasonable grounds for concern that these activities may cause serious harm to the marine environment, even where there is lack of full scientific certainty.
"2. The Legal and Technical Commission shall make recommendations to the Council on the implementation of paragraph 1 of this regulation. The recommendations issued by the Commission may, inter alia, list those exploration activities which may be considered to have no potential for causing harmful effects on the marine environment."
Others proposed new wording for the definition, which in the text before the Council says that "where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage to the marine environment, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation". One delegate, agreeing with the comment that the use of adjectives reduced the impact of the word "damage", suggested changing the first part to read "threats of contamination, or any other form of damage to the marine environment".
Two more suggestions were advanced. One of them described precautionary measures as "all the measures and actions which should be undertaken, even in the absence of scientific certainty, in order to prevent any risk of marine environmental degradation". Another said that the precautionary principle related to "the adoption of cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation where there are serious threats of damage to the environment" and added that "lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing such actions".
One speaker objected to any definition of precautionary measures and saw no grounds for including them in regulations for prospecting and exploration. His country had invested several million dollars on prospecting in the area and was concerned that those investments should bear fruit. He opposed the inclusion of a general principle that lent itself to several interpretations.
Others made the point that careful implementation of the environmental provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea would ensure that seabed contractors gave due regard to environmental concerns.
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