Another attempt to organise sharing of oceans' wealth

Press, 24 May 1977, Page 9

Another attempt to organise sharing of oceans' wealth

NZPA-Reuter United Nations The countries of the world have begun another attempt to share out the vast mineral riches lying at the bottom of the oceans, and to avoid a bitter international carve-up of seabed wealth.

Delegates to the United; Nations Law of the Sea con-! ference are meeting in a' sixth session knowing that it; could be their last chance to J stop the haggling and decide: who should be allowed to mine the ocean floor. Failure to resolve the min-i ing issue — on which delegates from about 150 countries will concentrate during the first part of the seven-! week session — could spell! the collapse of the confer- ’ ence. At stake are millions of tonnes of rocks, or nodules/ containing manganese, copper, cobalt, and nickel, which are scattered over the' deepest parts of the seabed. The ocean floor, outside' national jurisdiction, was | designated the "common heritage of Mankind” by al;

landmark resolution of the U.N- General Assembly in 1970. The conference, which aims to draft laws to govern every maritime activity from navigation and fishing to pollution control and mining, has reached agreement on a number of important issues since it began in December, 1973. But the question of who should exploit the riches of the seabed has proved the main obstacle to the negotiation of a final treaty that would put into effect all decisions taken by the conference. Last summer’s fifth session ended in deadlock with the advanced industrial nations and many developing countries in sharp disagreement over the control

e|of future mining operations, tl The industrialised States I want countries and private i corporations to be guaran- i ijteed a role in mining on an 11 equal footing with a proi posed international seabed , | authority. Some developing i! nations, fearful of Western s 1 consortiums, insist that min- , ing can be done only at the discretion of the authority. ) Diplomats have said that : f failure to agree on mining e could herald a free-for-all -I struggle over maritime t. rights as fierce as past disputes over territory. - Even if considerable progress is made at this ses- - sion, most observers believe J that at least one more nego- ; tiating round will be needed ’ to wrap up a final Law of 1 the Sea Convention.