SEABED AUTHORITY ENDS SESSION, TO MEET AGAIN 5-16 AUGUST 2002; COUNCIL DEFERS STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES

SEABED AUTHORITY ENDS SESSION, TO MEET AGAIN 5-16 AUGUST 2002;

COUNCIL DEFERS STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES

(Received from the International Seabed Authority.)

KINGSTON, 12 July -- The International Seabed Authority concluded its seventh session this morning after its Assembly fixed 5 to 16 August as the provisional dates for next year’s session, to be held at the Authority’s headquarters in Kingston.  The main topic for the session will be the regulation of polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich crusts.

At its closing meeting just before the Assembly met, the Council of the Authority decided to defer consideration of recommendations by its Legal and Technical Commission on measurement of the environmental impacts of seabed exploration for polymetallic nodules.

Discussion in Assembly

Regarding the date for next year’s session, Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan explained to the Assembly that he had sought an earlier date but conference services could not be provided because of the heavy meetings schedule in New York in July.  He would continue to be in touch with New York in an effort to obtain a better date.  As to the meetings schedule in 2002, he said a two-day briefing session on polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich crusts would be held for delegations during the first week, before the Council took up its work.

Speaking for the European Community, Finland and Spain remarked that the August dates were inconvenient.  Spain questioned how delegations would be able to take decisions on such technical matters in the short time after the briefings. 

The European Community suggested a division between technical and political meetings, but the President, Peter D. Donigi (Papua New Guinea), suggested that the distinction did not hold for developing countries, which had difficulty in financing their attendance at meetings.  New Zealand thought it counter-productive to separate political and technical work.

The Russian Federation suggested that consideration be given to holding meetings of the Legal and Technical Commission between the Authority’s annual sessions.  The idea was endorsed by Fiji, but New Zealand voiced a preference for having that body meet at the same time as the Authority’s main organs.  Secretary-General Nandan observed that the Commission’s members preferred to meet during the Authority’s session.

Mexico stressed that, in the interests of transparency, the Commission’s meetings on the new resources should be open to member States.  In a general comment, Mexico urged the Authority to move forward toward regulating the new resources, since technology typically moved ahead of the creation of law.

President Donigi announced that, for next year, the African Group was to nominate the President of the Assembly, while the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States would nominate the Council President.

The President read a statement summarizing the Assembly’s work this year.

Council Action on Environmental Recommendations

The Council of the International Seabed Authority completed its work for the year after deciding without objection to defer until next year its consideration of recommendations by its Legal and Technical Commission to guide seabed contractors in assessing possible environmental impacts from their exploration for polymetallic nodules in the international seabed area.

The deferral was proposed this morning by the Russian Federation, which requested more time for members and contractors to study the Commission’s text.  The proposal was endorsed by Chile and Spain.

The recommendations specify what features and conditions of the seabed and surrounding ocean should be measured by contractors to comply with their obligations under the Authority’s Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules on the seabed beyond national jurisdiction.  They were communicated to the Council last Friday (6 July) by the Commission Chairman, Inge Zaamwani (Namibia).

At the start of the discussion today, Council President Tadeusz Bachleda-Curuś (Poland) recalled regulation 38 of the Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules in the international seabed area.  This authorizes the Legal and Technical Commission to issue technical or administrative recommendations to guide contractors in implementing the Authority’s recommendations.  It adds:  “Should the Council find that a recommendation is inconsistent with the intent and purpose of these Regulations, it may request that the recommendation be modified or withdrawn.”

During the brief discussion, Papua New Guinea said it saw no problem in deferring consideration, but it did not agree with the notion that the Council’s primary purpose was to consider the concerns of seabed contractors.

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