Round-Up Release

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF CONCLUDES TWENTY-NINTH SESSION

 

NEW YORK, 1 May (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) ― Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 66/231 of 24 December 2011, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its twenty-ninth session at United Nations Headquarters from 19 March to 27 April 2012.  The plenary part of the session was held from 9 to 20 April.

The periods from 19 March to 5 April and from 23 to 27 April 2012 were devoted to the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information Systems facilities of the Division.

Galo Carrera Hurtado (Mexico) was elected Chairperson.  The Commission paid tribute to the late Alexandre Tagore Medeiros de Albuquerque (Brazil), former Chairperson of the Commission, who passed away in Brazil on 29 March 2012.

During the plenary, Guyana and Mexico, in respect of the Eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico, made presentations to the Commission on their recent submissions.  Barbados in respect of its revised submission, France in respect of the areas of the French Antilles and the Kerguelen Islands, and the Philippines in respect of the Benham Rise region, also made presentations pursuant to paragraph 15 (1) of annex III to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission.

The Commission considered and adopted, by consensus, four sets of recommendations in respect of:  the revised submission made by Barbados; the submission made by Japan; the submission made by France in respect of the areas of the French Antilles and the Kerguelen Islands; and the submission made by the Philippines in respect of the Benham Rise region.

Pursuant to article 6 (3) of annex II to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, these recommendations, together with their summaries, have been transmitted to the respective coastal States, as well as to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.  The Secretary-General will give publicity to the summaries of these recommendations on the website of the Division.

The Commission, through its subcommissions, also continued the examination of data and other materials submitted by Uruguay and the Cook Islands in respect of the Manihiki Plateau.

The term of office of the current members of the Commission will expire on 15 June 2012.  Elections of 21 members of the Commission will be held during the twenty-second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention from 4 to 11 June 2012.  The plenary part of the thirtieth session of the Commission will be held from 30 July to 10 August 2012.

The details of the twenty-ninth session will be reflected in the statement of the Chairperson of the Commission on the progress of the Commission, which will be issued as document CLCS/74 soon.

For additional information on the work of the Commission, please see earlier Press Release SEA/1818 of 30 March 2005 and the website of the Division at www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

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For information media • not an official record