COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONTINUES WITH ISSUES OF TRAINING, FURTHER PREPARES FOR RECEIPT OF SUBMISSIONS FOR EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF

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COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONTINUES WITH ISSUES OF TRAINING,

FURTHER PREPARES FOR RECEIPT OF SUBMISSIONS FOR EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF

NEW YORK, 30 May (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -– The Ninth Session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf dealt with a number of issues in further preparation for the receipt of submissions from coastal States on the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

Training

Although training is not one of the functions of the Commission, its members felt that a number of developing States were in need of both scientific and technical assistance to prepare their submissions.  One of the important steps to be taken in the near future is for interested States and intergovernmental organizations, as well as educational institutions, to develop and hold training courses for those involved in the preparation of submissions for those States.  To this end, the Commission had developed both a flowchart for the preparation of submissions, as well as a five-day training course outline to cover the most important aspects to be taken into account in that preparation.  Interested parties could use the outline to prepare courses, especially at the regional level, taking into consideration the different types of continental shelf in various regions of the world.

In addition, the Commission emphasized the importance of the preparation of a “Training manual on the preparation of a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf” to be focused at the global level, in order to facilitate the preparation of a submission by States concerned, in particular by developing States.  An outline of the contents of the manual would be completed and provided to the Secretariat by the Chairman of the working group on training three months in advance of the next session of the General Assembly.  Once the manual was completed, it could be adapted for use at the regional level.  The Commission and the Secretariat will continue to work on preparing the cost estimates for the five-day training module in Jamaica, with the assistance of members of the working group on training.

Internal Procedures of Subcommissions

In further preparation for considering submissions, the Editorial Committee of the Commission prepared a document entitled “Internal procedure of the subcommission of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf”.  In his

report to the Commission, the chairman of the Editorial Committee also pointed out several issues that might eventually require amendments to the modus operandi of the Commission.  After consideration, the Commission adopted the document by consensus (CLCS/L.12).

Decision of eleventh Meeting of States Parties to Postpone the Commencement of 10-year Time Limit for Submission to the Commission

The Commission took note of the “Decision regarding the date of commencement of the 10-year period for making submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf set out in article 4 of Annex II to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” which was adopted by the eleventh Meeting of States Parties on 18 May 2001 (SPLOS/72).

This decision was taken by the Meeting at its closing session on Friday

18 May.  It was decided that 13 May 1999 would be taken as the starting date of the 10-year period from the entry into force of the Convention for each State to make a submission on the outer limits of the extended continental shelf to the Commission.

That date will apply to States for which the Convention entered into force before 13 May 1999 -- the date on which the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf adopted its Scientific and Technical Guidelines.  The guidelines had two purposes -- to assist the Commission itself in considering submissions by accounting for updated information discovered since the conclusion of the Convention almost 20 years ago, and to assist States in preparing their submissions which are to be sent to the Commission.

The Meeting also decided to keep under review the general issue of the ability of States, particularly developing States, to fulfil the requirements of the Convention.  Those requirements, including the submission of data to the Commission within a 10-year period, are set out in article 4 of Annex II to the Convention.

Concerning the background paper on “Issues with respect to article 4 of annex II to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”, prepared by the United Nations Secretariat at the request of the tenth Meeting of States Parties, and discussed at their eleventh Meeting (SPLOS/64), the Commission noted that it had not been requested, and therefore did not provide, any input regarding the issues contained in the background paper.  Therefore, the views expressed in the background paper are those of the United Nations Secretariat and not necessarily those of the Commission.  The Commission expressed its availability in the future to provide its views, if requested, on technical and scientific aspects relating to continental shelf issues.

Observer Status before Meeting of States Parties to Convention

The President of the Meeting of States Parties had stated, inter alia, that granting observer status to the Commission might be beneficial to the relationship between the Meeting of States Parties and the Commission.  The Commission decided

to seek such observer status through a letter from its Chairman addressed to the President of the next Meeting of States Parties.  Regarding other forums, the Commission decided to further explore the issue without taking any action at this stage.

Next Session of Commission

Since the Commission had not yet received a submission, although it was believed that some States were at very advanced stages of completion, the Commission decided not to hold another session in 2001, in accordance with its decision taken at its eighth session.  It was further decided that the tenth session of the Commission in 2002 would be of three weeks’ duration (starting with the week of 15 April 2002), in case there was a submission.  If no submission were received or ready to be considered, the tenth session might be reduced to one week, or cancelled altogether, depending on the workload of the Commission.

In view of the forthcoming election of 21 members of the Commission at the next meeting of States Parties to the Convention in May 2002, the Commission proposed that the eleventh session of the Commission in its new composition be held from 24-28 June 2002.

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