Background Release

Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf to Meet at Headquarters 21 July-5 September

NEW YORK, 18 July (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will hold its thirty-fifth session from 21 July to 5 September.

The plenary parts of the session will be held from 4 to 8 August and from 2 to 5 September, while the remainder of the time will be devoted to the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information Systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

There are currently nine sub-commissions actively considering the submissions made by Uruguay; the Cook Islands concerning the Manihiki Plateau; Argentina; Pakistan; Norway in respect of Bouvetøya and Dronning Maud Land; South Africa in respect of the mainland of the territory of the Republic of South Africa; the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands jointly concerning the Ontong Java Plateau; France and South Africa jointly in the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands; and Mauritius in the region of Rodrigues Island.

Several States that have made submissions, but have yet to make formal presentations to the Commission, have been invited to do so during the plenary parts of the session.  Of those States, two, namely Angola and the Bahamas, have already confirmed their intention to make such presentations.

As required under the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all the submissions, including all charts and coordinates, have been made public by the Secretary-General through continental shelf notifications circulated to Member States of the United Nations, as well as States parties to the Convention.  The executive summaries are available on the Division’s website at www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm.  The summaries of 20 recommendations thus far adopted by the Commission are also available on the above-referenced website.

For additional information on work of the Commission, please see the website of the Division at www.un.org/depts/los/index.htm.

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For information media • not an official record