New Seabed Authority fails to agree on Council membership.

• Position: Assembly of the International Seabed Authority

The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority concluded the second part of its first session (27 February-17 March) in Kingston Jamaica,without reaching agreement on the constitution of its 36-member Council, which is to act as its executive board.

The Assembly is the supreme organ of the Authority, consisting of all its members. Set up under the provisions of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the Authority is the organization that will administer the exploitation of the deep seabed and its resources, declared by the UN General Assembly as "the common heritage of mankind".

The Convention, which entered into force in November 1994, deals with all matters relating to the world's oceans, including national sovereignty, exploitation of living and non-living resources, navigation, scientific research, dispute settlement, protection and preservation of the marine environment, and conservation of living resources.

Informal consultations on how States would be nominated to the five different categories of Council membership dominated the work of the Assembly's three-week session. Until the Council is formed, the Assembly must delay election of a Secretary-General of the Authority and of the 15-member Finance Committee, as well as dealing with issues on monitoring of activities of the registered pioneer investors in deep seabed mining.

Assembly President Hasjim Djalal of Indonesia said for Council seat allocation, proportionality and a balance between developing and developed countries should be taken into account.

The 1982 Convention and the 1994 Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the Convention, dealing with deep seabed mining. defines the five categories under which members may be elected to the Council.

Group A comprises four members from among those countries which, during the previous five years, have either consumed or imported more than 2 per cent of world consumption of commodities produced from minerals derived from the international seabed area--known as the "Area". One should be the eastern European State with the largest economy in terms of gross domestic product; another should be the State having the largest economy in terms of gross domestic product on the date of the Convention's entry into force.

Group B consists of four members from among the eight parties which have the largest investments in the "Area". Group C is composed of four...