SIXTH SESSION OF COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF TO DISCUSS TRAINING, TRUST FUND FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Press Release
SEA/1652
SIXTH SESSION OF COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF TO DISCUSS TRAINING, TRUST FUND FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
19990830 Background ReleaseExpected to Hold Elections for Officers of Commission
NEW YORK, 27 August (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -- The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will convene its sixth session from 30 August to 3 September to resume its work in preparation for the receipt of submissions from coastal States to establish the outer edge of their continental shelf where the continental margin extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
The Commission has already completed its basic documents, including the Rules of Procedure of the Commission (CLCS/3/Rev.2), its Modus Operandi (CLCS/L.3) and its Scientific and Technical Guidelines (CLCS/11). The final adoption of the Guidelines occurred at the end of the fifth session, on 13 May, after extensive debate on several articles.
Among the main items on the agenda of the current session is the issue of training, which was briefly considered at the fifth session, and will be taken up as a priority at the current session as a way to promote better understanding of both article 76 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as the Guidelines of the Commission, in particular taking account of the needs of developing States. During the inter-sessional period, research was done to identify training needs and available means, including a review of existing training projects and capacities within the United Nations system.
Other items on the agenda are the election of officers and the completion of flowcharts and illustrations to be added to the Guidelines as Annex II, as well as the addition of an Annex III containing the articles and other material from the 1982 Convention governing the activities of the Commission. These Annexes may be added to the Guidelines to further illustrate a number of the more complex possibilities for implementing article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea governing the determination of the outer limits of the continental shelf past 200 nautical miles.
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It also continued to pursue the possibility of establishing a trust fund to allow all its members to fully participate in the Commissions activities, including those members from developing countries, which have encountered difficulties in financing the participation of their nationals in all sessions of the Commission.
Continental Shelf
The continental shelf is the extension of a coastal States land territory beneath the oceans or seas. It is defined in the Convention as the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond a coastal States territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance. A coastal State exercises jurisdiction over its continental shelf: the Convention recognizes coastal States sovereign rights to explore and exploit the resources of the continental shelf which, in some areas, have been estimated as being extremely valuable.
Extension of Continental Shelf beyond 200 Miles: Role of Commission
The Commission was created to deal with specific circumstances when the geomorphological features allow the coastal State to extend the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, but no further than either 350 nautical miles from its baselines, or 100 nautical miles from the 2,500 metre isobath, which is a line connecting points where the depth of the ocean is at 2,500 metres. In such cases, the coastal State must follow precise formulations laid down in the Convention, and it has to make a submission to the Commission containing scientific and technical data in support of such limits. The Commission will consider these submissions and make a recommendation to the coastal State. The limits of the shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of this recommendation shall be final and binding.
Scientific and Technical Guidelines
The Scientific and Technical Guidelines are meant to provide assistance to coastal States regarding the technical nature and scope of the data and information to be included in the submission addressed to the Commission. The Guidelines are of a highly scientific nature: they deal with geodetic and other methodologies for the determination of the outer limit of the continental shelf using such criteria as determination of the foot of the slope of the continental margin, sediment thickness, and structure of submarine ridges and other underwater features beyond 200 nautical miles.
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