SEABED ASSEMBLY ADOPTS FINANCIAL REGULATIONS, ELECTS MALTA TO COUNCIL, HEARS TRIBUTES TO ELLIOT RICHARDSON

Press Release
SEA/1664

SEABED ASSEMBLY ADOPTS FINANCIAL REGULATIONS, ELECTS MALTA TO COUNCIL, HEARS TRIBUTES TO ELLIOT RICHARDSON

(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)

KINGSTON, 23 March -- The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston this morning, adopted the financial regulations of the Authority and elected Malta to a vacant seat on the Authority's Council. It also filled out its slate of vice-presidents for the session, elected a replacement member to the Finance Committee and appointed the nine members of its Credentials Committee.

The meeting opened with a series of tributes to the late Elliot L. Richardson, former United States Attorney General and head of his country's delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea from 1977 to 1980. Statements were made on behalf of the regional groups and by Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan.

The President, Liesbeth Lijnzaad (Netherlands), announced that she would consult with the Council President and heads of regional groups on the pending election of the Secretary-General.

The Assembly is scheduled to meet next on the morning of 31 March to close the first half of its 2000 session. During the interval the Council will continue its informal consultations on the draft regulations in prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the international seabed area, on which it will resume work this afternoon.

Financial Regulations

The Financial Regulations approved today cover the handling of the Authority's funds from budgetary preparation by the Secretary-General through examination and approval by the Finance Committee, the Council and Assembly, and on to the management and auditing of funds.

They provide for a financial period of two consecutive calendar years beginning with 2001-2002, marking a break with the current practice of single-year budgets. In deciding on the budget prepared by the Secretary-General every other year, the Council and Assembly are to take into account the recommendations of the Finance Committee. Appropriations by the Assembly are to be voted annually, in

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accordance with article 172 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which calls for annual budgets.

According to the regulations, administrative expenditures are met from a general administrative fund, backed up by a working capital fund used to finance appropriations until income is available. Most of that money comes from the contributions of member States, as defined in a scale of assessments based on the United Nations scale, with ceiling and floor (maximum and minimum) rates set by the Authority. The Authority may accept voluntary contributions in cash or otherwise, which are to be kept in trust funds or special accounts.

Funds are kept in banks designated by the Secretary-General, who must report thereon to the Council from time to time. The Finance Committee must be informed when money not immediately needed is invested on a short-term basis, while long-term investments of trust funds and special accounts may be made after consultations with an investment counsellor appointed on that Committee's recommendation.

In addition to internal controls, accounts of the Authority are to be examined by "an internationally recognized independent auditor with experience in the audit of international organisations". An annex to the regulations contains additional terms of reference for the audit.

The regulations (ISBA/5/C/L.3) have been in effect provisionally since last August, when the Council approved them subject to final action by the Assembly. The Assembly adopted them today (draft decision in ISBA/6/A/L.2) as recommended by the Council, which based its text on a version that the Finance Committee had worked out in 1997 and 1998.

After the Assembly adopted the regulations without a vote today, the observer from the United States said they did not accurately reflect the decision-making clauses of the 1994 Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI (seabed provisions) of the Convention. That text, in paragraph 7 of section 2 of its annex, requires all financial or budgetary decisions by the Assembly and Council to be "based on the recommendation of the Finance Committee". [Regulations 3.7 and 3.9 state that budget decisions shall "take into account" such recommendations.]

Elections and Appointments

The Assembly acted this morning on the membership of four bodies of the Authority. All decisions were taken without discussion or vote.

To the 36-member Council, it elected Malta to a vacant seat, effective immediately. Malta replaces Italy as a member from Group E, the 18-member list of States elected to the Council to ensure equitable geographical distribution. Italy remains a Council member, however, as it was elected last August to replace the United States from Group A (major consumers or importers of land-based sources of seabed minerals). Malta's term will extend to the end of this year.

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Council members are chosen from four special interest groups and a fifth group intended to secure geographical balance. The President recalled today that the Assembly was due to hold elections at the second part of its current session, in July, to fill half the Council seats when they become vacant at the end of this year.

To the Finance Committee it elected Boris G. Idrisov, Deputy Director of the Financial Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for the remainder of a term ending 31 December 2001 (Biographical information is in ISBA/6/A/1). Mr. Idrisov replaces his compatriot Sergei P. Ivanov, who resigned from the 15-member Committee effective 11 February.

As vice-presidents of the Assembly, it elected the Czech Republic, India and Namibia. With Jamaica, elected at the opening meeting of the session on Monday, 20 March, they complete the roster of four vice-presidents for the current year. The three were nominated on behalf of their regional groups by Poland, for the Eastern European Group; the Republic of Korea, for the Asian Group; and Nigeria, for the African Group.

To the nine-member Credentials Committee, the Assembly appointed China, Ghana, Guyana, Japan, Mozambique, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Uruguay. The Committee will meet next week to examine credentials of participants in the current session.

Tributes to Richardson

At the outset of its meeting, the Assembly heard tributes to Elliot Richardson of the United States, who died on 31 December 1999. Mr. Richardson headed his country's delegation to the Law of the Sea Conference during critical years preceding its adoption of the 1982 Convention.

The observer from the United States described Mr. Richardson as always "a true believer in the promise behind the law of the sea". She said he "never lost sight of the original intention of the Conference, to implement and to safeguard the December 1970 United Nations General Assembly's unanimous resolution that oceans beyond national limits are the common heritage of mankind". She announced that the United States was presenting to the Authority a videotape of a law of the sea symposium held in 1996 at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. In that presentation, Mr. Richardson voiced his support to ratification by the United States of the Convention and the amending Agreement.

Representatives of the five regional groups also paid tribute. The Russian Federation, speaking on behalf of Eastern European States, said Mr. Richardson had played a key role in the formulation of part XI of the Convention, specifically section III dealing with development of resources of the international seabed area.

The Republic of Korea, for the Asian Group, said "Mr. Richardson's life was dedicated to devoted service to his country" and the loss would be greatly felt, not only by the American people but by those involved in ocean affairs. Nigeria, on behalf of the African Group, described the former United States Attorney General

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as "a man of high integrity, great courage and transparent honesty" who had given "distinguished service to the United States and to the world".

Mexico, for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, spoke of the former ambassador's tireless work "to ensure that the exploitation of the 'common heritage of mankind' would be carried out in accordance with international law". Highlighting some of his major achievements, Australia said, "all delegates, if they are not already familiar, will marvel at Elliot Richardson's life's work".

Secretary-General Nandan recalled the many facets of Ambassador Richardson's life and called him a man of great humility and a great promoter of international cooperation. Ambassador Richardson was "persevering and relentless in his pursuit to promote the Convention and to persuade in particular his own Government to become a party. He always felt that the United States, as a major maritime Power, should be part of this Convention... But I think Elliot died knowing full well ... that it was a question of time".

Wrapping up the tributes, the Assembly President remarked that it was important to recall contributions made by individuals, on both a personal and a professional level, to the development of the law of the sea.

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