FRONT MATTER.PMD - International Seabed Authority

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Foreword Contents
issues. Its norms are precise but it also establishes principles which lend themselves to
further development. In this sense, there is an in-built flexibility which allows for the
development of new norms within the framework of the Convention in response to
evolving circumstances. We have already seen this happen in the two implementing
agreements that have been adopted: the agreement on the implementation of Part XI
and the agreement on the implementation of the provisions on straddling fish stocks
and highly migratory fish stocks.
The most controversial aspect of the Convention was the regime for deep seabed
mining contained in Part XI and Annex III. Indeed, as is well known, it was the outright
rejection of certain elements of the Part XI regime which led, in 1982, to the
non-acceptance of the Convention on the part of certain important industrialized States,
including the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Germany.
However, the other parts of the Convention achieved a broad measure of support
from all major interest groups and are widely reflected in State practice. The difficulties
with regard to Part XI were eventually resolved during the period from 1990 to
1994 through consultation and negotiation among all interested parties and by taking a
creative and flexible approach. The resulting régime is now reflected in Part XI of the
Convention and the implementing Agreement, adopted by the General Assembly on
28 July 1995.
The régime set out in the Convention and the Agreement, however, while containing
the basic principles for exploration and exploitation of the resources of the
deep seabed, also requires further elaboration and implementation through the adoption
of regulations for the conduct of exploration and exploitation activities. In July
2000, following negotiations extending over many years, the Assembly of the International
Seabed Authority approved the first set of such regulations covering prospecting
and exploration for polymetallic nodules. The significance of this achievement lies in
the fact that it completes the scheme set out in the Convention and the Agreement for
the administration of the resources of the international Area and provides a mechanism
for the practical implementation of the legal régime through the issue of contracts to
those who wish to explore the deep seabed.
While the focus of the present legal régime is on the exploration of polymetallic
nodules in the international seabed area, this is only one kind of resource available
from the sea floor. Recent scientific studies have shown the existence of cobalt bearing
crusts and polymetallic sulphides as potentially viable economic resources. Regulations
governing these resources will be developed in due course within the overall
legal framework of the Convention and the Agreement, with due regard to the need to
protect the marine environment from potentially harmful effects.
In the area of fisheries, by the early 1990s it was widely recognized that there was
over-exploitation of fish resources resulting in dangerous depletion of important fish
stocks. It was also recognized that the legal régime for high seas fishing set out in the
Geneva Conventions of 1958, and largely incorporated in the 1982 Convention, was
inadequate to safeguard the fisheries resources of the high seas, particularly those
classed as straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks. It was therefore not
surprising that the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) in 1992 called for a conference to address the problems of high seas fisheries.
Such a conference was convened by the United Nations in 1993 and completed
its work in 1995 with the adoption of the Agreement for the Implementation of the