INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 1. GM, Sepa offers unique opportunities to mankind.

The resources in the sea are diversified in nature and are Gift of God. Today, I, shall present before you an overview of International Seabed Authority which is workin under the ambit of !"# to re ulate the seabed resources which are beyond the $urisdictions of national waters and are common herita e of mankind. %. Sequence of presentation is as flashed. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND INTERNATIONAL SEA BED AUTHORITY ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF ISA ORGANIZATION RES ONSIBILITY OF !ARIOUS ORGANS "URISDICTION OF ISA SETTLE#ENT OF DIS UTES ENDO$#ENT FUND EFFICACY OF ISA ROLE OF AKISTAN ROLE OF INDIA US OB"ECTIONS CONCLUSION

AI# To appraise the members about International Seabed &uthority 'IS&( INTRODUCTION ). "atural resources on land are depletin at a fast rate due world*s population e+pansion. The world*s attention is now focusin on ocean economic resources which have not been fully e+ploited up till now. ,istorically, nations had claims to a very narrow belt of three miles from their coastlines, leavin the rest of the hi h seas enerally without le al checks. The International Seabed &uthority 'IS&( is an inter overnmental body based in -in ston, .amaica, that was established to or ani/e and control all mineral0related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national $urisdiction, an area

underlyin most of the world*s oceans. It is an independent treaty or ani/ation ori inally established by the 1aw of the Sea 2onvention. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3. The ,MS 2hallen er e+pedition '145%657( discovered the variously shaped metal0rich nodules scattered across lar e areas of the ocean floor. In the mid 189:s, the oceans had lon been sub$ect to the freedom0of0the0sea doctrine, a 15th century principle that limited national ri hts and $urisdiction over the oceans to a narrow belt of sea surroundin a nation*s coastline. ;y 1875, international rivalries, technolo ical advancements, and new maritime uses pushed states to clarify sea boundaries and use of resources with stricter le al parameters. In 185: after years of intensive efforts, the !" &ssembly unanimously declared the seabed and ocean floor beyond the limits of national $urisdiction to be the common herita e of mankind. & conference was thus convened by the !"# in 185) which would lead to establishin the International Seabed &uthority to or ani/e and control all activities in the &rea with a view to administer resources. 9. The essential reasons for lobal interest in man anese nodules reside in their abundance and the important metals they contain namely copper, cobalt, nickel and man anese. <olymetallic nodules or man anese nodules cover appro+imately 37 million km% area of the ocean floor with estimated reserves of 1.56) trillion tones. The <acific #cean alone has an area of %) million km % covered with nodules, followed by the Indian #cean with 13 million km % and the &tlantic with 4 million km%. 7. The economic si nificance of nodules depends on the demand and the availability on land of nickel, copper, cobalt and man anese. "ickel and copper will be the mainstay of the seabed minin industry. "odule deposits are commonly thou ht as potential nickel ores because nickel will furnish the bulk of the revenue from nodule minin . INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 5. The International Seabed &uthority is an autonomous international or ani/ation established under the 184% !nited "ations 2onvention on the 1aw of the Sea and the 1883 & reement relatin to the Implementation of <art =I of the !nited "ations 2onvention on the 1aw of the Sea. The &uthority is the or ani/ation throu h which States <arties to the 2onvention shall, in accordance with the re ime for the seabed and ocean floor and subsoil thereof beyond the 2

limits of national $urisdiction, or ani/e and control activities in the &rea, particularly with a view to administer the resources of the &rea. 4. The &uthority with its headquarters in -in ston, .amaica, came into e+istence on 17 "ovember 1883 and held its first meetin on the same day. 1ast meetin bein the 17th Session was held in %:1:. 2urrently, the &uthority has 198 members and the >uropean 2ommunity, composed of all parties to the 1aw of the Sea 2onvention. 8. ?irst Secretary General, Satya "andan from ?i$i, was elected in March 1887 for a four year term. ,e remained as Secy General for three consecutive terms i.e. till %::4. <resently "ii &llotey #dunton of Ghana is Secy General of the &uthority who was elected in %::4. FUNCTIONS AND RES ONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORITIES a. To re ulate deep seabed minin .

b. <rotection of marine environment from any harmful effects which may arise durin minin activities, includin e+ploration. c. ?ormulation of the re ulations for prospectin and e+ploration for polymetallic nodules d. 2ollaboration of the respective responsibilities of seabed e+plorers and the &uthority in order to ensure environmentally sustainable development of seabed mineral resources. e. To promote and encoura e marine scientific research in the international seabed area and to disseminate the results of such research. f. #nce minin becomes profitable, the contractors will pay royalties to the &uthority. . #r ani/es annual workshops on various aspects of seabed e+ploration ISA ORGANIZATION 1:. The IS& or ani/ation is as flashed@ 3

ASSE#BLY &ssembly consists of all members of the &uthority The supreme body of the &uthority, to which other bodies report Aesponsible for settin eneral policies, procedures, rules and re ularly reviewin the work of the &uthority >lects the members of the 2ouncil and other bodies, and elect the Secretary General amon candidates proposed by council. >+amines periodic reports from other or ans of the &uthority. COUNCIL 2ouncil is the e+ecutive or an of the &uthority. >stablishes specific policies and approves applications for e+ploration or e+ploitation ri hts Its )7 members are elected by the &ssembly for rotatin 3 years terms &pproves 190year plans of work in the form of contracts >+ercises control over activities in the &rea, supervises and coordinates implementation of the seabed provisions of the 2onvention >nter into a reements with !" or other international or ani/ations on behalf of &uthority. SUBSIDIARY BODIES 1e al and Technical 2ommission o &dvice on le al and technical matters o Its %9 members are selected for a 90years term. o Supervision of e+ploration or minin activities. o <rovide advice to the International Seabed &uthority*s &ssembly and 2ouncil on all matters relatin to e+ploration and e+ploitation of non0livin marine resources 'such as polymetallic Bman aneseC nodules, polymetallic sulphides and cobalt crusts(.

>conomic and <lannin 2ommission o Dill advise council on supply, demand and price factors o This 19 member*s body has not yet been constituted. 4

o ?unctions bein 2ommission.

performed by the 1e al and Technical

?inance 2ommittee o & central role in the administration of the &uthority*s financial and bud etary arran ements. o #versee the financin and financial mana ement of the &uthority. o consists of 19 members elected by the &ssembly for a period of 9 years

SECRETARIAT ,eaded by the Secretary General, who is elected by the assembly for a 3 years term. The Secy General shall be the chief administrative officer of the &uthority. ,e shall make an annual report to &ssembly on the work of &uthority. ?unctional units consist of@ o #ffice of the Secretary General o #ffice of &dministration and Mana ement o #ffice of 1e al &ffairs o #ffice of Aesources and >nvironmental Monitorin ENTER RISE Dill be the commercial arm of the &uthority Shall have its principal place of business at the seat of &uthority. Dill be empowered to conduct its own minin , initially throu h $oint ventures with other entities Dill be established once the seabed minin becomes a commercial reality "URISDICTION OF ISA 11. In its preamble, !"21#S defines the international seabed areaEthe part under IS& $urisdictionEas Fthe seabed and ocean floor and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits of national $urisdictionG. There are no maps anne+ed to the 2onvention to delineate this area. Aather, !"21#S outlines the areas of national 5

$urisdiction, leavin the rest for the international portion. "ational $urisdiction over the seabed normally leaves off at %:: nautical miles ')5: km( seaward from baselines runnin alon the shore, unless a nation can demonstrate that its continental shelf is naturally prolon ed beyond that limit, in which case it may claim up to )9: nautical miles '79: km(. IS& has no role in determinin this boundary. Aather, this task is left to another body established by !"21#S, the 2ommission on the 1imits of the 2ontinental Shelf, which e+amines scientific data submitted by coastal states that claim a broader reach. SETTLE#ENT OF DIS UTES &s per !"21#S, le al disputes relatin to seabed matters are to be handled by a Seabed Hisputes 2hamber. Seabed Hisputes 2hamber has been established by the International Tribunal for the 1aw of the Sea #nly the 2ouncil may institute proceedin s before the 2hamber on behalf of the &uthority in cases of non0compliance AREAS OF E% LORATION 1%. &ll but one of the current areas of e+ploration is in the 2larion02lipperton Ione, in the >quatorial "orth <acific #cean south and southeast of ,awaii. The remainin area, bein e+plored by India, is in the 2entral Indian ;asin of the Indian #cean. >ach area is limited to 19:,::: square kilometers '94,::: sq mi(, of which half is to be relinquished to the &uthority after ei ht years. >ach contractor is required to report once a year on its activities in its assi ned area. CONTRACTORS 1). The e+ploration system envisa ed in the law of the sea convention, overseen by the authority came to life with the si nature in %::1J:% of 190year contracts with seven or ani/ations that had applied for specific seabed areas in which they were authori/ed to e+plore for polymetallic nodules. 1ater in %::7, Germany was also added. 13. The ei ht current contractors are@ Ku/hmor eolo ya 'Aussian ?ederation(L Inter0ocean0metal .oint #r ani/ation 'I#M( ';ul aria, 2uba, Slovakia, 2/ech Aepublic, <oland and Aussian ?ederation(L the Government of 6

the Aepublic of -oreaL 2hina #cean Minerals Aesearch and Hevelopment &ssociation '2#MA&( '2hina(L Heep #cean Aesources Hevelopment 2ompany 'H#AH( '.apan(L Institut franMais de recherche pour l*e+ploitation de la mer 'I?A>M>A( '?rance(L the Government of India, and the ?ederal Institute for Geosciences and "atural Aesources of Germany. ENDO$#ENT FUND 19. In %::7 the &uthority established an >ndowment ?und to Support 2ollaborative Marine Scientific Aesearch on the International Seabed &rea. & campai n was launched in ?ebruary %::4 to identify participants, establish a network of cooperatin bodies and seek outside funds to au ment the initial N) million endowment from the &uthority. The International Seabed &uthority >ndowment ?und promotes and encoura es the conduct of collaborative marine scientific research in the international seabed. EFFICACY OF ISA 17. 2ontrary to early hopes that seabed minin would enerate e+tensive revenues for both the e+ploitin countries and the &uthority, no technolo y has yet been developed for atherin deep0sea minerals at costs that can compete with land0based mines. !ntil recently, the consensus has been that economic minin of the ocean depths mi ht be decades away. Moreover, the !nited States, with some of the most advanced ocean technolo y in the world, has not yet ratified the 1aw of the Sea 2onvention and is thus not a member of the &uthority. 15. The IS&*s &pril %::4 report indicates an upward trend in demand and prices for cobalt, copper, nickel and man anese, the main metals that would be derived from seabed minin . Aeport also hi hli hted that the technolo ies bein developed for offshore e+traction could be adapted for deep sea minin . ANNUAL $ORKSHO S In addition to its le islative work, the &uthority or ani/es annual workshops on various aspects of seabed e+ploration, with emphasis on measures to protect the marine environment from any harmful consequences. It disseminates the results of these meetin s throu h publications. & workshop at ,awaii, in #ctober %::5 7

produced a rationale and recommendations for the establishment of Opreservation reference areasO in the 2larion02lipperton Ione, where nodule minin would be prohibited in order to leave the natural environment intact. In ?ebruary %::4, a workshop held at 2hennai, India, which deliberated future minin technolo y for e+traction of polymetallic nodule, with special reference to its current status and challen es ahead. ROLE OF AKISTAN 14. The 2onvention entered into force on 17 "ovember 1883. <akistan ratified the convention and 1883 & reement relatin to the Implementation of <art =I of !"21#S, on %7 ?ebruary 1885. "o prominent contribution has been made so far. ROLE OF INDIA 18. India is a pioneer investor by virtue of its investment and efforts at e+ploration and research0specific tasks of identifyin and demarcatin potential man anese nodule sites in the central Indian #cean. India is the only claimant in the Indian #cean and was the first pioneer investor. The contract between the authority and the Govt of India was si ned on %9 March %::%. The Indian site is about %5:: km from its port of operation in Goa between the eo raphical coordinates 1:617P South and 5)658P >ast and is amon the most e+plored areas in India*s oceano raphy pro ram. US OB"ECTIONS %:. The !nited States is the only ma$or maritime power that has not ratified the 2onvention, with one of the main anti0ratification ar uments bein a char e that the IS& is flawed or unnecessary. The !.S. also ar ued that the International Seabed &uthority established by the 2onvention mi ht become a bloated and e+pensive bureaucracy, due to a combination of lar e revenues and insufficient control over what the revenues could be used for. In its ori inal form, the 2onvention included certain provisions that !S found ob$ectionable@ a. Imposition of permit requirements, fees and ta+ation on seabed minin L ban on minin without IS& permission

b.

!se of collected money for wealth redistribution in addition to IS& administration

c.

Mandatory technolo y transfer

CONCLUSION %1. GM, to conclude, IS& is primarily directed to re ulate e+ploration for and e+ploitation of mineral resources. IS& has also a broader role to play with respect to the protection and preservation of the marine environment. The International Seabed &uthority is continuously en a ed in the promotion of knowled e and scientific research in the &rea. The &uthority*s current role remains quite modest, which is inevitable due to absence of si nificant commercial interest in the development of deep seabed mineral resources. Gentleman, with this I come to the end of my presentation.