ASSEMBLY CONCLUDES EIGHTH SESSION OF SEABED AUTHORITY

ASSEMBLY CONCLUDES EIGHTH SESSION OF SEABED AUTHORITY

(Reissued as received.)

KINGSTON, 15 August (International Seabed Authority) -- The International Seabed Authority ended its eighth session this afternoon after its Assembly set 28 July to 8 August 2003 as the date for its next session at the Authority’s headquarters in Kingston. 

Before adjourning, the Assembly approved the report of its Credentials Committee, heard a declaration from the Latin American and Caribbean Group, and received a summary of its work during the session, which opened in Kingston on 5 August. The summary was presented in a statement (ISBA/8/A/13) by the President, Martin Belinga-Eboutou (Cameroon).

The Credentials Committee, whose report (ISBA/8/A/8) was read out by its Chairman, Ryszard Kotlinski (Poland), informed the Assembly that 62 members had submitted credentials, formal or otherwise, regarding their attendance at the session.

The statement on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, read by Argentina, made several points in reference to the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Authority (ISBA/8/A/5 and Add.1). The Group thought it premature to consider exploitation of non-living resources of the extended continental shelf -- that is, the areas where the shelf extends beyond 200 miles from the coastal baseline.  The Group welcomed the fact that the workshop to be held in 2004 would not deal with this issue, as originally planned.

Chile expressed hope that the Secretary-General would attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development, at Johannesburg (26 August to 4 September), to raise the issue of environmental protection in relation to seabed mining.  Secretary-General Satya N. Nandan responded that he would do so if arrangements for the Summit’s work programme would allow.

Summarizing the discussion of 9 and 14 August on the Secretary-General’s annual report, the President’s written statement said the Assembly had endorsed the Secretary-General’s proposals for the promotion of international cooperation in deep-seabed research.  Regarding ongoing negotiations between the Secretary-General and the Jamaican Government on the sharing of maintenance costs and other outstanding issues relating to the Authority’s offices in Kingston, he said the Assembly had urged the Secretary-General and the Government of Jamaica to continue trying to conclude an agreement as soon as possible.

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