SEABED ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ANNUAL REPORT

SEABED ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ANNUAL REPORT

(Reissued as received.)

KINGSTON, 5 August (ISA) -- The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority, meeting this afternoon in Kingston, began its discussion of the report on the Authority’s activities during the past year and plans for its future work.  The report (document ISBA/9/A/3) was presented by the Secretary-General, Satya N. Nandan, at this morning’s meeting.

The main topics discussed included the role of the Authority in protecting the biodiversity of the deep sea environment and the extent to which it should be involved in studies or other activities related to exploitation of the non-living resources of areas of the continental shelf more than 200 nautical miles from coastal baselines.

The Assembly will meet next at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, 7 August, to hear any further speakers on this topic, set the date for its 2004 session and conclude the current session.

On deep sea biodiversity and related aspects of marine scientific research, the United Kingdom remarked that, while the Authority was charged with regulating deep seabed mining, there should be no question of having it seek to regulate research.  The observer from the United States supported this view, adding that it was important to protect the freedom of entities to conduct marine scientific research in the deep sea.  China, however, supported the Authority’s intention to make protection of biodiversity in the deep ocean one of the directions of its work.

With regard to the Authority’s role in studies or other activities related to the exploitation of the non-living resources on the outer limits of the continental shelf, the Russian Federation joined Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States in insisting that the Authority’s activities must be clearly limited.  The United States added that while article 82, paragraph 4, of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provided for a system of sharing revenues gained from resources exploited beyond the 200-mile boundary, the Authority was responsible only for collecting payments or contributions made by coastal States for distribution to other States parties to the Convention.

Australia, supported by a number of other speakers, agreed with a point in the Secretary-General’s report stating that the best course for the Authority at this time was to develop its capacity as a depository of information about resources in the international seabed area and to promote new research on these resources.  Chile urged that as much scientific information as possible should be gathered before the Authority hastened to elaborate regulations for cobalt-rich crusts and polymetallic sulphides.

In response to a concern expressed by the Russian Federation about the “cautious approach” being taken in drafting regulations for cobalt-rich crusts and polymetallic sulphides, the Secretary-General reiterated the commitment of the Authority to drawing up such rules but stressed the need for flexibility to allow the incorporation of new scientific information as it became available.

The Republic of Korea brought up a request it had made during last year’s session for the secretariat to conduct a comparative study on the level of seabed investment by individual countries.  In response, the Secretary-General said that a questionnaire would be sent to governments in the coming year and a report on the results would be made available at the next session.

The Secretary-General’s intention to submit next year a three-year work plan, designed to fit the available financial and human resources to the new scientific and technical focus of the Authority’s work, met with support from Australia, Chile, Fiji, New Zealand and Sudan.  Australia said this multi-year strategy would help to prioritize activities and allow for planning beyond the two-year budget cycle of the Authority.

At the request of Argentina, the Secretary-General disclosed the names of the three donors to the voluntary fund to help defray the expenses of members from developing countries attending the meetings of Authority expert bodies:  Oman, Angola and Yury Kazmin of the Russian Federation.

Jamaica reaffirmed its “unwavering and abiding commitment” to fulfill its obligations as host country and to seek an expeditious conclusion of the supplementary agreement governing the Authority headquarters in Kingston.  It acknowledged that a number of difficulties had delayed negotiations and offered an apology for the disruption of essential services to the secretariat in April, when air conditioning and janitorial services were suspended for a week.  Regarding another issue raised by the Secretary-General, he said that, although Jamaica had no agreement with any international organization regarding local employment of spouses of staff members, it had no objection in principle to concluding one.

Several delegations welcomed Jamaica’s remarks, with the Russian Federation hoping that they would usher in a new phase in relations between the Authority and the host country.

Austria, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom expressed hope that Secretary-General Nandan would continue to serve for another term after his current five-year term expires next year.  New Zealand remarked that this would provide continuity as the Authority implemented the three-year work programme to be proposed next year.  Fiji confirmed its willingness to make Mr. Nandan’s services available.

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