In progress at UNHQ

SEA/1666

SEABED COUNCIL TO HOLD FURTHER TALKS ON CONTENTIOUS ISSUES RELATING TO MINERAL EXPLORATION CODE

27 March 2000


Press Release
SEA/1666


SEABED COUNCIL TO HOLD FURTHER TALKS ON CONTENTIOUS ISSUES RELATING TO MINERAL EXPLORATION CODE

20000327

(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)

KINGSTON, 24 March -- The Council of the International Seabed Authority agreed this morning in Kingston to move into "informal informal" meetings in an attempt to find a common ground among delegates on outstanding issues in the draft regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the international seabed area.

The move came as the Council completed an initial round of informal consultations on safeguards for confidentiality of data and information provided to the Authority by seabed contractors. The Council is seeking compromises on the remaining unresolved questions in the draft, especially relating to confidentiality and environmental protection -- the main topics occupying the 36-member body since it opened its current session on Monday, 20 March. It is trying to complete work this year on the draft regulations (ISBA/5/C/4/Rev.1), also called the mining code. One week remains before the current part of the sixth session ends on 31 March, to be followed by a final round in July.

The Council also began discussing objections raised to elements of sections 10 and 11 of annex 4 of the draft regulations, containing standard clauses for exploration contracts. These sections deal with the annual reports which contractors must submit to the secretariat of the Authority, and data and information they must provide on expiration of the contract. The Council is to continue with this topic at its next meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, 27 March.

The "informal informal" talks that will begin behind closed doors this afternoon -- the term was used by Council President Sakiusa S. Rabuka (Fiji) to distinguish them from the informal consultations held thus far -- will be chaired by Mr. Rabuka. Like the meetings earlier this week, they will be open to all Council members, as well as representatives of other States, members and non- members of the Authority. The confidentiality issue especially concerns the types of data and information that should be regarded as confidential, the treatment of confidential data supplied by contractors, and the period during which confidentiality should be maintained.

Also this morning, the President announced that Fiji had submitted a note nominating Satya N. Nandan for re-election as Secretary-General of the Authority. Reporting that consultations were under way on the matter, he expressed hope that the Council could make its recommendation on the matter in time for the Assembly to act next week.

- 2 - Press Release SEA/1666 27 March 2000

Several proposals have been made -- yesterday afternoon, 23 March, and this morning -- to revise clauses in the existing text of draft regulation 36, on confidentiality. Some seek to strengthen the safeguards against disclosure by Authority officials of data and information gathered by seabed operators that can be of commercial value to competitors. In the other direction, delegates opposing excessive secrecy stress that data exchange is an important part of the marine technology transfer that the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea tries to promote. Both sides acknowledge that the Authority, the controlling body for resource-oriented activities in the international seabed area, must have access to certain data on the location and content of mineral resources and the type of technology used. The argument is over how to handle the data that it obtains.

In the resumed discussion today, several delegations supported a proposal made yesterday by one member as a way to deal with confidentiality issues. This called for establishing two procedures: one to assess whether information deemed confidential by a contractor should be accepted as such; and another to allow the contractor to request that data not be released if disclosure would result in severe financial losses.

According to the proposal, the clause mandating 10 years of confidentiality after the end of an exploration contract would be supplemented by this addition: "The 10-year period provided for can be extended for another 10-year period if the contractor proves that release of the data would lead to serious and unfair economic prejudice."

These procedures would deal with each case separately, it was suggested, and the Secretary-General of the Authority would participate in determining what material was confidential. Any disputes could be referred to the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or to the Authority's Legal and Technical Commission.

Secretary-General Nandan pointed out that, in general, any seabed disputes under the Convention were governed by the Seabed Disputes Chamber. He also observed that contractors needed to feel convinced that confidential data would be respected as such by the Authority and warned against making the procedures so burdensome as to discourage contractors from providing information freely.

Differing views were expressed, yesterday and again today, as to whether confidentiality should be maintained for more or less than 10 years, or whether there should be any limit at all. Those opposing a limit argued that, as seabed activities were still unprofitable, operators should not be discouraged by premature disclosure of information. Speakers favouring a shorter limit stressed the need to ensure that the legitimate profit quest of investors was not carried out to the detriment of the interests of mankind. The seabed, one member noted, could not be regarded as "a private hunting ground" reserved for investors.

On another matter relating to information to be supplied by contractors, one delegation proposed changes to sections 10 and 11 of annex 4 of the draft regulations. (This annex contains standard clauses for contracts.) In section 10, he proposed to remove clauses requiring the submission of certain specific information: "results of testing of technologies and maps, charts and graphs illustrating the work that has been done and the results obtained"; "the results

of observations, measurements, evaluations and analyses of environmental parameters for the area"; and "a statement of the quantity of polymetallic nodules recovered as samples or for the purpose of testing".

With regard to section 11 on data and information to be submitted on expiration of an exploration contract, the representative called for a specific definition of the "powers and functions of the Authority" in the clause requiring transfer of material necessary for and relevant to the effective exercise of those powers and functions. He also objected to a paragraph requiring copies of all geological, environmental, geochemical and geophysical data acquired by the contractor. He asked for a more precise definition of the "representative portion" of the samples of polymetallic nodules obtained in the course of exploration, which the contractor must submit to the Authority at the end of the contract.

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For information media. Not an official record.