Preparatory Commission agrees on procedures for registering pioneer investors in deep sea-bed mining.

Preparatory Commission agrees on procedures for registering pioneer investors in deep sea-bed mining

A formula for registering the firstgroup of potential investors in deep sea-bed mining has been agreed on by the Preparatory Commission for the International Sea-Bed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

A highlight of the Commission's activitiesduring its second 1986 session (New York, 12 August-5 September), the understading marked another step towards implementing resolution II of the 1982 United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which established a special regime for protecting investments in future deep sea-bed mining.

The agreement ended a two-year effortto resolve overlapping claims of France, Japan and the Soviet Union, three of the four potential "pioneer investors" identified in resolution II. The "pioneer investor" category gives a State or group of States exclusive rights to explore an ocean area and priority in authorization for commercial production. Under the agreement, specific portions of the north-east Pacific Ocean would be reserved upon registration for France, Japan and the Soviet Union, while India, the fourth pioneer applicant, which had no conflicting claims, would be given exclusive rights to an area in the Indian Ocean.

France, Japan and the Soviet Unionagreed that, upon registering as pioneer investors, parts of their application areas which overlap with potential applicants would be relinquished for possible future applications by four consortia whose components come from Belgium, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The understanding provided timetablesand mechanisms for registering the first group of pioneers, and allowed for similar treatment to be given other potential applicants. The right to apply for registration as a pioneer investor was ensured for any developing country that has signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and satisfies the registration requirements. (Six ratifications or accessions are required for entry into force; as of September 1986, the Convention had received 32 ratifications from a total of 159 signatories.)

Under Resolution II, to qualify asa pioneer investor, an aplicant must have spent at least $30 million on seabed activities as of 1 January 1983; developing countries were given until 1 January 1985 to qualify.

According to the agreement, agroup of all or several socialist States of Eastern Europe have the right to apply for one pioneer area until the Convention enters into force.

The formula resulted from extensiveconsultations under Preparatory Commission Chairman Joseph S. Warioba (United Republic of Tanzania) and Acting Chairman I. G. Jhingran (India). Mr. Jhingran told the Commission on 5 September that by recognizing the rights of pioneer investors, the agreement would give "practical effect" to the new regime for deep seabed mining under the Convention.

"The Preparatory Commission is ofthe view that there can only be one regime for deep sea-bed mining and that is the regime...