SEABED COUNCIL, OPENING SIXTH SESSION, ADOPTS AGENDA RESUMES WORK ON MINING CODE
Press Release
SEA/1658
SEABED COUNCIL, OPENING SIXTH SESSION, ADOPTS AGENDA RESUMES WORK ON MINING CODE
20000321(Received from International Seabed Authority.)
KINGSTON, 20 March -- The 36-member Council of the International Seabed Authority held its first meeting of the Authoritys sixth session in Kingston this afternoon, aimed at completing work this year on a mining code of regulations that will govern exploration for polymetallic nodules in the deep seabed area.
At the formal part of its opening meeting, before moving into informal session to consider the draft, the Council adopted without objection its agenda for the year (ISBA/6/C/L.1) with one addition, an election to fill one seat on the Legal and Technical Commission. The Council had agreed at its last session that the Latin American and Caribbean Group could propose an additional candidate for the Commission, without prejudice to future decisions on the number of members on that body. The Group had said it would present a candidate at this session.
The 13 items on the original agenda include, besides the mining code, remaining issues relating to the Commissions rules of procedure and the Councils proposal to the Assembly for the election of the Authoritys Secretary-General. Other items, including the Authoritys budget for 2000, the scale of assessments for member States contributions and the Staff Regulations, are to be taken up at the second part of the session in July, before they are considered by the Assembly.
Election of a Council President for the sixth session was deferred to Wednesday, 22 March, at the request of the Asian Group, whose turn it is to nominate a candidate for the post. In the meantime, Sakiusa S. Rabuka (Fiji) presided over the meeting, replacing Charles Manyang DAwol (Sudan), who chaired the Council last year. The Council agreed to this arrangement after Indonesia withdrew as a Vice-President, a post to which it had been elected for 1999, in favour of Fiji.
Before the Council resumed its drafting work in informal session, the Council held a brief discussion of how it should tackle the remaining task. The presiding officer called attention to two documents circulated by the secretariat to facilitate further work on the code. One of these (document ISBA/5/C/4/Rev.1) contains a revised text of the drafts 40 regulations and four
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annexes, prepared by the secretariat together with the President. The other (document ISBA/6/C/INF.1) contains an analysis of outstanding issues still to be decided. The analysis addresses three issues in particular: application of the precautionary principle to ward off possible environmental damage, liability for damage and confidentiality of data supplied by seabed contractors.
The Russian Federation commented that the secretariats analysis should not be taken as a basis for deliberations on the draft code; rather, the Council should continue with the informal consideration of the text that it had engaged in last year.
Chile, favouring a third reading of the code once the Council finished the second reading it had begun last August, supported the view of the Russian Federation and thought that the Council had not exhausted debate on the draft.
New Zealand believed that while regulation-by-regulation deliberation must resume, discussion of key issues identified in the secretariats analysis could help to break the deadlock. Portugal supported this view, while Mexico suggested that the President meet informally with those holding differing views on the main issues and report back with proposals.
The Council agreed, on a proposal by the Netherlands, to deal with the remaining paragraphs of the draft mining code in informal session.
Informal Meeting
At the suggestion of Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan, the Council agreed to defer discussion on regulation 1, which defines terms used in the code, and to begin with part IV, dealing with contracts for exploration, one of the heavily debated topics at the 1999 session.
Regulation 23 provides in part that a contract between the Authority and seabed operators shall incorporate standard clauses annexed to the regulations and any environmental rules established by the Authority. One member wondered how contracts might be affected by such rules established in the future.
In the discussion on regulation 24 on the rights of the contractor, one member wondered if the mention of an exclusive right to explore an area might prevent others from pursuing other activities, such as the laying of deep-sea cables. The Secretary-General explained that such a case would be regulated by the provisions concerning freedom of the high seas as outlined in article 87 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Another member wanted to clarify the text by specifying that the Council rather than the Authority should act on matters pertaining to contractual rights.
One speaker queried the meaning of a clause in regulation 25, concerning the size of the area allocated to the contractor and the subsequent relinquishment of portions in which the contractor would no longer operate. The
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clause states that under exceptional circumstances such as those due to mishap, the Council might accede to a contractors request to defer relinquishment. The Secretary-General agreed that the term mishap needed to be clarified to refer to operational mishaps such as the loss of equipment or vessels.
On regulation 26, on the duration of contracts, one delegation wanted confirmation that since contractors 15-year plans of work would not be functional until contracts were signed, the 15-year period would begin after signing of the contract. The Secretary-General confirmed that the plan of work would only come into effect upon signing the contract; he cited this as one of the reasons for adopting the mining code as expeditiously as possible.
A suggestion was made to amend the regulation to stipulate that contractors could apply to extend plans of work for three renewable terms of five years each. However, this suggestion was rejected by another delegation on the grounds that mineral exploration was not yet a viable activity and it was not possible to know how long it would continue to be non-viable. That would depend on the metals market and a number of other factors. The Convention specified no time limit for the renewal of plans of work and the text of regulation 26 should remain unchanged in keeping with the Convention.
A number of members commented on regulation 27, dealing with training. Under this regulation, each contract must include a practical programme for the training of personnel of the Authority and developing States, drawn up by the contractor in cooperation with the Authority and the sponsoring State or States.
One member asked what obligations would be borne by pioneer investors who had already provided training programmes. He suggested adding a footnote to exempt those pioneer investors who had discharged their obligations in good faith.
The Secretary-General remarked that contracts would record the training provided by pioneer investors who had discharged their obligations. However, a number of delegations objected to including a footnote of exemption, on the ground that training had to be regarded as an ongoing obligation especially in light of the evolving technology in the field of deep-sea mining. Regulation 27 should remain unchanged to maintain the flexibility reflected in the last sentence: Such training programmes may be revised and developed from time to time as necessary by mutual agreement.
Regulation 28 deals with the review of the programme of work of contractors, whereby the contractor and the Secretary-General shall jointly undertake a periodic review of the implementation of the programme of work under the contract every five years. One member suggested that approval of the Council should be made upon final recommendation of the Legal and Technical Commission. In the view of several other speakers, however, it was understood that the Commission would be consulted on these matters.
Another delegation suggested inserting the sentence: The Secretary- General shall also bear in mind and take into account the observations
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transmitted to him by the States Parties concerning the manner in which the contractor has discharged his obligation to protect and preserve the environment. Several speakers supported this addition.
At the end of the meeting, the presiding officer announced that discussions on part IV would continue at the next meeting, after which the Council would move on to part V, on protection and protection of the marine environment.
The Council will meet again in informal consultations at 10:15 a.m. tomorrow, 21 March.
(Press releases on the informal meetings will cover highlights of the discussion without identifying delegations by name.)
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