COUNCIL TAKES UP SEABED SULPHIDES AND CRUSTS

COUNCIL TAKES UP SEABED SULPHIDES AND CRUSTS

(Reissued as received.)

KINGSTON, 12 August (International Seabed Authority) -- The Council of the International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston, began this morning a discussion on the regulation of prospecting and exploration for hydrothermal polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the deep ocean.

At the suggestion of its President, Fernando Pardo Huerta (Chile), the Council agreed to pursue this discussion at informal meetings at which any member of the Authority may express its views without going on record.

At the formal part of this morning’s meeting, the Council, without objection, elected Germany, India and Poland as vice-presidents for 2002, on the nomination of their respective regional groups.  The African Group has yet to nominate its candidate for a fourth position

Polymetallic sulphides are deposits of sulphur-containing minerals formed by hydrothermal activity – that is, by an upwelling of hot volcanic magma and superheated seawater from beneath the ocean floor.  Cobalt crusts are oxidized deposits of cobalt-rich iron and manganese layers formed by the precipitation of minerals from cold seawater onto hard seabed surfaces.  In addition to the cobalt found in both types of deposit, sulphides also contain manganese, iron, other metals and rare earth elements, while crusts include copper, lead, nickel, zinc, gold and silver.

Much of the debate during the informal part of the meeting focused on how the Council should approach its consideration of the regulations.  One speaker pointed out that even after discussion in Council it would be the task of the Legal and Technical Commission to draft the regulations. The Commission had based its work last week on a paper (ISBA/7/C/2) prepared by the Secretariat last year as an aid to discussion in the Council on the system to be applied to prospecting and exploration of these newly discovered resources.  Today, some members wanted to steer clear of using this document as a basis for the Council's current deliberation, preferring to focus on broader conceptual issues.  A number of delegations felt that the Council’s discussion would be more fruitful after receiving input from the Legal and Technical Commission, which is due to present tomorrow, 13 August, its report to the Council on last week’s session.

The perceived lack of scientific information was another area of concern for certain members.  They spoke of a "disconnect" between scientific efforts and the timing of the Authority’s legislative activities.  While progress had been made in

this area, the ability of delegations to digest the information was still limited, they observed.  It was essential that all members be perfectly at ease with the volume of information available.  However, one speaker remarked that the prolonged absence of regulations could lead to difficulties and suggested that the Authority should pursue the path towards legislation but with caution and flexibility, allowing for future amendments based on new knowledge.

Another issue discussed was whether there should be separate sets of rules to deal with the two types of resources now being examined.  A number of speakers saw the need for separate codes, citing the physical differences between the two resources and the methods for extracting them from the seabed.  Separate codes, they felt, would better serve the interest of clarity and would benefit both the Authority and future contractors.  However, other speakers warned against getting bogged down in detailed drafting and questioned whether a comprehensive document could be created to deal with all the different resources.

The matter of a deadline for the adoption of regulations was also debated. One delegation highlighted the time-limit provision, contained in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (article 162, paragraph 2 (o) (ii), and paragraphs 15 and 16 of section 1 of the annex to the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the Convention), for the adoption of rules, regulations and procedures governing mineral resources found in the deep seabed.  The provision sets a deadline of three years between the time a request is made for regulations pertaining to newly found resources and the adoption of those regulations.  In the case of sulphides and crusts, it was noted that the request for regulations had been made in 1998 by the Russian Federation.

Some delegations questioned whether the three-year deadline was relevant or even practical when the Authority was faced with complex issues regarding information gathering and discovery.  Noting that only an amendment to the Convention could change the deadline for the adoption of regulations, one delegation proposed that the Authority explore the idea of revisiting the Convention.

Inviting discussion on the application of a general pattern for all future regulations, one delegation suggested the inclusion of the precautionary principle in the rules for sulphides and crusts.  (The thrust of this principle is that lack of data on possible harmful consequences to the marine environment that might arise from activity on the seabed should not serve as an excuse for failing to take preventive measures.)  Other delegations pointed out that general principles for mining the resources of the deep seabed were already laid out in the Convention; moreover, it was premature to discuss the precautionary principle in the context of the newly discovered minerals.

Discussion of this topic is to continue at the Council’s next informal meeting, at a time to be fixed.

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