SEABED ASSEMBLY ELECTS FINANCE COMMITTEE, ADOPTS STAFF REGULATIONS, DISCUSSES REPORT ON AUTHORITY’S WORK

SEABED ASSEMBLY ELECTS FINANCE COMMITTEE, ADOPTS STAFF REGULATIONS,

DISCUSSES REPORT ON AUTHORITY’S WORK

(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)

KINGSTON, 10 July -- The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority this morning elected a new membership for its Finance Committee, adopted Staff Regulations for the secretariat, and heard Satya N. Nandan, Secretary-General of the Authority, introduce his annual report on the work of the Authority.

Several delegations commented on matters dealt with in the Secretary-General’s report.  Decisions on all other items were taken without discussion or objection.

The Assembly deferred until further notice, pending the receipt of further information requested by delegations, a request by the Interoceanmetal Joint Organization for observer status with the Assembly.

Finance Committee Election

In the election to the Finance Committee, the Assembly accepted all

15 candidates nominated by member States of the Authority (document ISBA/7/A/3 and Add.1-4).  The members serve in a personal capacity for a five-year term.  

The new membership of the Finance Committee will be as follows (an asterisk denotes a re-elected member):

*Domenico Da Empoli (Italy), *Peter Döllekes (Germany), *Hasjim Djalal (Indonesia), Ivo Dreiseitl (Czech Republic), Aung Htoo (Myanmar), Boris G. Idrisov (Russian Federation), *Tadanori Inomata (Japan), Joseph Samih Matta (Lebanon), *Juliet Kalema Semanbo (Uganda), *Jean-Pierre Levy (France), Liu Jian (China), Paul McKell (United Kingdom), *Coy Roache (Jamaica), *Narinder Singh (India) and Florentina Adenike Ukonga (Nigeria).

Members leaving the Committee at the end of their current term are:

Ernesto Belo Rosa (Uruguay), Walid Doudech (Tunisia), Maria Dragun-Gertner (Poland), Albert Hoffmann (South Africa), Lou Hong (China), Serguey P. Ivanov (Russian Federation) and Michael Wood (United Kingdom).

The Finance Committee considers the Authority’s two-year budgets and other financial matters.  Its membership must include persons from the five largest budgetary contributors.

The Assembly approved a statement by its President, Peter D. Donigi (Papua New Guinea), that today’s election of the Finance Committee was without prejudice to the overall composition of the Committee in future elections and in particular to claims by regional groups.

Staff Regulations

The Assembly approved Staff Regulations of the Authority, governing the rights, duties and obligations of persons in its employ and the principles of its personnel policy.  The Council had adopted the regulations last July, and since then the secretariat has applied them provisionally pending today’s final approval by the Assembly.

The regulations (ISBA/6/C/10) define the status of staff members as international civil servants, and outline their basic rights and obligations.  They are prohibited from accepting honours, gifts or remuneration from any government, or from associating with or having a financial interest in any concern where a conflict of interest might arise, including seabed exploration or exploitation.  The Secretary-General’s approval is required for any outside employment and activities.  Staff members must use the property and assets of the Authority for official purposes only, and stand accountable for their performance.

Other provisions cover the classification of posts and staff, salaries and related allowances (including annexes detailing a termination indemnity and repatriation grant), appointment, leave, social security, travel and removal expenses, staff relations, separation from service, and disciplinary matters and appeals.

The regulations are based on those used by the United Nations, with additions barring staff members from having a financial interest in seabed activities and from disclosing confidential information coming to their knowledge by reason of their activities.

Report of Secretary-General

      Secretary-General Nandan, introducing this morning his annual report on the work of the Authority (document ISBA/7/A/2), called attention to the need for all States parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to adhere also to the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI (seabed provisions) of the Convention, as called for by the United Nations General Assembly last year (resolution 55/7 of 30 October 2000).  Thirty-five such States have yet to ratify or accede to the later instrument.

Regarding relations between the Authority and Jamaica as host country,

Mr. Nandan expressed concern at delays in formulating an agreement on the use and occupation of the office space that serves as the Authority’s permanent headquarters in downtown Kingston.  An initial draft by Jamaica was inconsistent

with similar agreements with other international organizations, and the secretariat had submitted its own draft.  Figures requested by the Authority on maintenance costs for the building -– the key issue -- had only just been received from the Government and needed further clarification.  He hoped the Jamaican Government would move “faster than we have seen so far”.

Referring to the Authority’s difficulties in recruiting professional staff, he said many candidates declined positions after inquiring about living conditions in Kingston, with negative consequences for the secretariat’s work.  He referred particularly to two problems that discouraged competent candidates -– personal security, and the fact that spouses could not work locally, obliging some recruits to live apart from their spouses.  He would ask Jamaica to take action on the latter problem.

On financial matters, the Secretary-General noted that 42 members had contributed so far to this year’s budget, constituting 68 per cent of the total amount, while 95 had not paid.  For last year, 70 had paid and 62 had not.  Moreover, $1,256,099 remained outstanding from four former provisional members that had not joined the Authority as regular members.

Turning to substantive matters, Mr. Nandan stressed the importance of the latest recommendations by the Legal and Technical Commission on the assessment of environmental impacts from exploration for polymetallic nodules.  The result, he said, would help bring about uniformity in the work being done by the various seabed contractors, who needed to know what was expected of them.

He thanked France and the United States in particular for supplying information that the Authority would include in its evolving database on seabed exploration, and he asked others to consider providing data as well.  He especially hoped to receive better information from contractors on the mineral resources in seabed areas reserved to the Authority.  He hoped to speed publication of the proceedings of the Authority’s technical workshops, and offered to arrange briefing sessions for delegations on the results of future workshops.

Finally, regarding future work, Mr. Nandan said the Authority hoped to have a workshop next year on marine scientific research, and a later one on marine resources other than polymetallic nodules, such as oil and gas, on the outer continental shelf more than 200 miles from coastal baselines.  He recalled that the Authority, under the Law of the Sea Convention, was authorized to receive and redistribute revenue from such sources.

Speaking of negotiations on the office space agreement, the Jamaican representative conceded that insufficient progress had been made and that details of maintenance costs had just recently been made available to the Authority.  He noted that Jamaica had spent $20 million to upgrade facilities in the building occupied by the Authority, including the entryway, bathrooms, air conditioning and alarm system, and that a new standby generator would shortly be installed.  Jamaica had recently proposed a draft agreement with a special clause requiring it to provide a full set of figures at the start of each financial year, explaining and justifying maintenance costs.  The Government was now awaiting a response from the Authority.

On the issue of local employment of spouses of the Authority’s employees, he said the identical situation prevailed in New York with regard to United Nations employees.  There was no absolute prohibition but neither was there an automatic right to work.  Just as for the rest of the diplomatic service in Jamaica, each case was considered in relation to existing legislation.

The Jamaican representative also responded to a concern voiced by Saudi Arabia about difficulty in obtaining visas, stating that he hoped a way could be found to expedite the process.

Commenting on specific aspects of the report, China, Jamaica, Senegal, the United Kingdom and the United States encouraged the Authority to continue its work on information gathering and database development.  On workshops, Senegal said the information gleaned would help members of the Authority arrive at important conclusions on scientific research about marine resources.  The United States said it looked forward to more streamlined dissemination of information from workshops.

Jamaica, the United Kingdom and the United States commented on the issue of budgetary contributions.  The United Kingdom representative urged States in arrears to deal with the matter immediately.  “It is a matter of essential importance to the Authority that States parties pay their contribution and do so as soon as possible,” he said.  Supporting the call, Jamaica said the matter of the $1,256,099 unpaid by four former provisional members should be pursued with vigor.

The United States observer supported an earlier suggestion (by Japan in the Assembly on 2 July) that the Authority’s scale of assessment be brought into line next year with the latest United Nations decision (in December 2000) to lower the maximum contribution rate in that body from 25 to 22 per cent.  Acknowledging that the United States had not contributed to the Authority’s budget since 1997, she said funds were not likely to be released until it became a party to the Law of the Sea Convention.

China said that while the secretariat had improved its information dissemination, there was room for further improvement.  To facilitate the work of delegations China, supported by Saudi Arabia, suggested that the text of all the Authority’s official documents and decisions be published on its Web site in the six official languages.

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