Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 241 / 1996 Coll.
Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Agreement on the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982
Valid
International Treaty
Effective from 28.07.1996
Text versions:
06.09.1996
Zobrazeno prvních 200 z celkem 233 ustanovení tohoto předpisu.
Zobrazit celý předpis →
Pro stažení celého znění použijte tlačítko Stáhnout výše.
241
COMMUNICATION
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 28 July 1994 adopted in New York an Agreement on the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982.
On behalf of the Czech Republic, the Agreement was signed in New York on 16 November 1994.
The Parliament of the Czech Republic agreed to the Agreement and the President of the Republic ratified it. The instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, depositary of the Agreement, on 21 June 1996.
The Agreement entered into force on 28 July 1996 on the basis of Article 6 (1) and entered into force on that date for the Czech Republic. The Agreement was the Czech Republic in accordance with Article 7 (1) (b) thereof. (a) and (b) provisionally implemented as from 16 November 1994.
The Czech translation of the Agreement is announced simultaneously.
AGREEMENT
on the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982
States Parties to this Agreement,
Recognising the significant contribution of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) for the Conservation of Peace, Justice and Progress for all nations of the world,
confirming that the seabed and the seabed and its subsoil located beyond the national jurisdiction (hereinafter referred to as the Area), as well as the resources in that area, are the common heritage of humanity,
Recognising the importance of the Convention for the Protection and Conservation of the Marine Environment and the increasing interest in global ecology,
having examined the UN Secretary-General's report on the results of informal consultations between States which took place between 1990 and 1994 on major issues related to Part XI and the related provisions of the Convention (hereinafter referred to as Part XI),
bearing in mind political and economic changes, including market-oriented approaches, which affect the implementation of Part XI,
Wishing to facilitate general participation in the Convention,
considering the adoption of the Agreement on the implementation of Part XI as the best path towards this objective,
agree as follows:
Implementation of Part XI
The States Parties undertake to implement Part XI in accordance with this Agreement.
The Annex shall form an integral part of this Agreement.
Relationship between this Agreement and Part XI
1. The provisions of this Agreement and Part XI shall be interpreted and implemented jointly as a single document. In the event of any irregularity between this Agreement and Part XI, the provisions of this Agreement shall apply.
2. Articles 309 and 319 of the Convention shall be used for this Agreement as well as for the Convention.
Signature
This Agreement shall remain open for signature at the UN Headquarters to all States and other entities referred to in Article 305 (1) (a), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Convention for a period of 12 months from the date of its adoption.
Consent to be bound by this Agreement
1. Upon adoption of this Agreement, any instrument of ratification or formal approval or accession to the Convention shall constitute a consent to be bound by this Agreement.
2. No State or other body may give its consent to be bound by this Agreement unless it has previously or simultaneously expressed its consent to be bound by the Convention.
3. The State or other body referred to in Article 3 may express its consent to be bound by this Agreement, namely:
(a) a signature not subject to ratification, formal approval or procedure as provided for in Article 5;
(b) a signature subject to ratification or formal approval followed by such ratification or formal approval;
(c) a signature which will be the subject of the procedure laid down in Article 5; or
(d) accession.
4. Formal approval for other bodies referred to in (Article 305 (1) (f) of the Convention shall be in accordance with Annex IX to the Convention.
5. The instruments of ratification, formal approval or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Simplified procedure
1. A State or other entity which has deposited a instrument of ratification, formal approval or accession to the Convention before the date of adoption of this Agreement and which has signed this Agreement in accordance with Article 4 (3) (c) shall be deemed to be a State or other entity which has given its consent to be bound by this Agreement 12 months after the date of its adoption, unless that State or other entity has notified the depositary in writing before that date that it does not intend to use the simplified procedure provided for in this Article.
2. In the event of such notification, the consent to be bound by this Agreement shall be expressed in accordance with Article 4 (3) (b).
Entry into force
1. This Agreement shall enter into force 30 days after the date on which 40 States have agreed, in accordance with Articles 4 and 5, to be bound by this Agreement, provided that there are at least seven States referred to in paragraph 1 (a) of Resolution II of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNSCR II) and that at least five of them are developed States. If these conditions for entry into force are fulfilled before 16 November 1994, this Agreement shall enter into force on 16 November 1994.
2. For each State or other body which has given its consent to be bound by this Agreement after complying with the requirements referred to in paragraph 1, this Agreement shall enter into force on the 30th day following the date on which the consent to be bound by this Agreement was expressed.
Preliminary implementation
1. Unless this Agreement enters into force on 16 November 1994, it shall be provisionally implemented until its entry into force:
(a) States which have agreed to accept it at the UN General Assembly, with the exception of those States which are notified in writing to the depositary before 16 November 1994, either that they will not implement this Agreement in this way or that they will agree to such implementation only on the basis of subsequent signature or written notification;
(b) States and other bodies which have signed this Agreement, with the exception of those States or other bodies which, at the same time as the signature, notify the depositary in writing that they do not intend to implement this Agreement;
(c) States and other bodies which agree to its provisional implementation by written notification to the depositary;
(d) States which acceded to this Agreement.
2. All such States and other entities shall implement this Agreement provisionally in accordance with their national or national legislation, with effect from 16 November 1994, or, if later, from the date of signature, notification of consent or accession.
3. The provisional application shall be terminated at the date of entry into force of this Agreement. In any event, the period of provisional application shall end on 16 November 1998 if the requirement of Article 6 (1) relating to the expression of consent to be bound by this Agreement by at least seven States (of which at least five must be developed States) referred to in paragraph 1 (a) of Resolution II is not fulfilled by that date.
Participating States
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, "Participating States" shall mean States which have expressed their agreement to be bound by this Agreement and for which this Agreement is in force.
2. This Agreement shall apply mutatis mutandis to other entities referred to in Article 305 (1) (c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Convention and which become Parties to this Agreement in accordance with the conditions applicable to each of them; in that sense, the term "participating States' applies to such other entities.
Depository
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the depositary of this Agreement.
Authentic texts
The original of this Agreement, the texts of which are equally authentic in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, will be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
IN WITNESS, the undersigned, duly authorised, have signed this Agreement.
_
ANNEX
EXPENDITURE OF PARTICIPATING STATES AND INSTITUTIONAL ADJUSTMENTS
1. The International Seabed Office (hereinafter the Office) shall be an organisation through which States Parties to this Convention organise and control activities in the Area in accordance with the arrangements laid down for that Area in Part XI and this Agreement, in particular with regard to the management of resources in that Area. The powers and functions of the Office shall be those expressly conferred on it by the Convention. In addition, the Office shall have powers compatible with the Convention which result and are necessary for the exercise of those powers and functions in relation to the activities in the Area.
2. In order to reduce the costs of participating States as far as possible, all the Authority's institutions and subsidiary bodies established under the Convention and this Agreement must be effectively managed. This principle shall also apply to the duration and schedule of meetings.
3. The establishment and operation of the Authority's institutions and subsidiary bodies shall be based on a developmental approach, taking into account the functional needs of those authorities and subsidiary bodies so that they can effectively discharge their respective responsibilities at different stages of the development of activities in the Area.
4. The first functions of the Office after the entry into force of the Convention shall be carried out by the Assembly, the Council, the Secretariat, the Legal and Technical Commission and the Financial Commission. The functions of the Commission for Economic Planning shall be exercised by the Legal and Technical Commission until the Council decides otherwise or until the approval of the first extraction plan.
5. Between the entry into force of the Convention and the approval of the first mining plan, the Office shall concentrate on the following tasks:
(a) processing applications for approval of exploratory work plans in accordance with Part XI and this Agreement;
(b) the implementation of decisions of the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Office and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (hereinafter referred to as the Preparatory Commission) concerning registered pioneering investors and their proposing States, including their rights and obligations, in accordance with Article 308 (5) of the Convention and Resolution II (13);
(c) monitoring the implementation of research work plans approved in the form of contracts;
(d) monitoring and assessing trends and developments in seabed production, including regular analyses of the world market conditions for metals, and of metal prices, trends and prospects in this sphere;
(e) study of the potential impact of the production of minerals from the Area on the economy of the developing terrestrial producers of these minerals, which are likely to be the worst affected, with the aim of minimising their difficulties and helping them to adapt economically, taking into account the results achieved in this respect by the Preparatory Commission;
(f) adoption of the rules, regulations and procedures necessary for managing emerging activities in the Area. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 17 (2) (b) and (c) of Annexes III to the Convention, these rules, regulations and procedures shall take into account the provisions of this Agreement, the significant delays in the commercial production of minerals in the deep-sea mines and the likely pace of activities in the Area;
(g) the adoption of rules, regulations and procedures based on applicable standards for the protection and conservation of the marine environment;
(h) encouraging and supporting marine scientific research on activities in the Area, as well as collecting and disseminating the results of such research and analysis, if available, with particular emphasis on research into the environmental performance of activities in the Area;
(i) the acquisition of scientific knowledge and the monitoring of the development of marine technology relating to activities in the Area, in particular those related to the conservation and conservation of the marine environment;
(j) the evaluation of available search and survey data;
(k) the timely development of rules, regulations and procedures for mining, including those dealing with the protection and conservation of the marine environment.
6. (a) The request for approval of the exploratory work plan shall be examined by the Council after receiving a recommendation on the application drawn up by the Legal and Technical Commission. The examination of the application for approval of the exploratory work plan shall take place in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, including its Annex III, in accordance with this Agreement and subject to the following conditions:
(i) a survey plan submitted on behalf of a State or another entity or part thereof, as referred to in Resolution II (1) (a) (ii) or (iii), shall be deemed to comply with the financial and technical conditions necessary for the approval of the work plan if the proposing State or States confirm that the applicant has entered at least $30 million in research and survey work and has spent at least 10% of that amount in order to determine the location, topographical study and evaluation of the work to which the work plan in question relates. The exception is pioneering investors who have already taken extensive action in the Area before the Convention entered into force and their successors. If the work plan otherwise complies with the requirements of the Convention and any rules, regulations and procedures adopted pursuant to it, the Council shall approve it in the form of a contract. The provisions of Section 3 (11) of this Annex shall be interpreted and implemented accordingly;
(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of Resolution II (8) (a), a pioneering investor may request the approval of a survey plan within 36 months of the entry into force of the Convention. The survey plan shall contain documents, reports and other data submitted to the Preparatory Commission both before and after registration and shall be accompanied by a certificate of compliance containing a specific report on the state of performance of commitments under the pioneering investor regime issued by the Preparatory Commission in accordance with Resolution II (11) (a). Such a work plan shall be deemed approved. The approved work plan shall take the form of a contract between the Office and a registered pioneer investor in accordance with Part XI and this Agreement. Following Section 8 (3) of this Annex, a fee of $250 000 paid under Resolution II (7) (a) shall be considered a fee relating to the survey phase. Section 3 (11) of this Annex shall be interpreted and implemented accordingly;
(iii) in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination, the contract with the State or another entity or parts thereof referred to in subparagraph (a) (i) must contain an arrangement of conditions which are similar and no less favourable than those agreed with the registered pioneering investors referred to in subparagraph (a) (ii). Where a State or another entity or part thereof referred to in subparagraph (a) (i) is granted a more favourable arrangement, the Council shall grant similar and not less favourable arrangements to registered pioneering investors covered by subparagraph (a) (ii) provided that such arrangements do not affect or harm the interests of the Office;
(iv) a State proposing an application for approval of a work plan as referred to in subparagraph (a) (i) or (ii) may be a Participating State or a State which provisionally implements this Agreement in accordance with Article 7 or a State which is an interim member of the Office in accordance with paragraph 12;
(v) paragraph 8 (c) Resolution II shall be interpreted and implemented in accordance with subparagraph (a) (iv).
(b) the approval of the exploratory work plan is granted in accordance with Article 153 (3) of the Convention.
7. The application for approval of the work plan shall be supplemented by an estimate of the potential environmental impact of the proposed activities and a description of the oceanographic and background environmental studies programme in accordance with the rules, regulations and procedures adopted by the Office.
8. The application for approval of the survey work plan referred to in paragraph 6 (a) (i) or (ii) shall be discussed in accordance with the procedures set out in Section 3 (11) of this Annex.
9. The survey plan shall be approved for a period of 15 years. On expiry of the deadline for the survey work plan, the contra-hent shall request the extraction work plan, unless it has already done so or the survey work plan has been extended. The contrabents may apply for such an extension for a period of no more than five years. Such extensions shall be approved if the contra-hent, in good faith, sought to comply with the requirements of the work plan, but for reasons beyond its control, was unable to complete the necessary preparatory work in such a way that it could proceed to the mining phase or if the prevailing economic circumstances do not justify a transition to the mining phase.
10. Determination of parts reserved to the Office in accordance with Article 8 Annexes III to the Convention shall be implemented in the context of the approval of an application for a survey plan or an application for a survey and extraction plan.
11. Notwithstanding paragraph 9, an approved survey plan, which has been proposed by at least one State which provisionally implements this Agreement, shall cease to apply if that State ceases to provisionally implement this Agreement and has not provisionally become a member under paragraph 12 or a participating State.
12. Following the entry into force of this Agreement, States and other bodies referred to in Article 3 of this Agreement which have so far implemented it provisionally in accordance with Article 7 and for which it is not in force may continue to be interim members of the Office until the entry into force of this Agreement for those States and other bodies, in accordance with the following subparagraphs:
(a) if this Agreement enters into force before 16 November 1996, those States and other entities shall continue to be authorised to participate as interim members of the Office if those States or other entities notify the depositary of this Agreement of their intention to remain in the participation of the interim member. Such membership shall end on 16 November 1996 or, if earlier, on the date of entry into force of this Agreement and the Convention for that Member State. The Council may, at the request of a given State or another body, extend such membership after 16 November 1996 for one or more periods, but not more than two years in total, provided that the Council considers that the State or other body in good faith seeks to become a party to the Agreement and the Convention;
(b) if this Agreement enters into force after 15 November 1996, those States and other bodies may request the Council to extend its provisional membership of the Office for one or more periods, but not longer than 16 November 1998. The Council shall grant such membership with effect from the date of the request if it considers that the State or other entity in good faith is seeking to become a party to the Agreement and the Convention;
(c) States and other bodies which are provisional members of the Office in accordance with subparagraph (a) or (b) shall examine the provisions of Part XI and of this Agreement in accordance with their national or national law and annual budget appropriations and shall have the same rights and obligations as other members, including:
(i) the obligation to contribute to the administrative budget of the Office in accordance with a defined contribution scale;
(ii) the right to propose an application for approval of a survey plan. In the case of other bodies consisting of natural or legal persons having the nationality of more than one State, the survey plan shall be approved only if all States whose natural or legal persons are those bodies are participating States or provisional members of the Office;
(d) Notwithstanding paragraph 9, an approved survey plan in the form of a research contract proposed by the State which was an interim member of the Office shall cease to apply if its membership has ceased and the State or other entity has not become a participating State;
(e) if that member has not submitted the specified contributions or otherwise failed to comply with his obligations in accordance with this paragraph, his provisional membership shall be terminated.
13. Unsatisfactory performance under Article 10 of Annex III to the Convention means a situation in which the contra-hent has failed to comply with the requirements contained in the approved work plan, even after the written warning of the Office in which the contra-hent has been called upon to comply.
14. The Office has its own budget. By the end of the year following the year in which this Agreement enters into force, the administrative expenditure of the Office shall be borne by the UN budget. After that, the administrative expenditure of the Office shall be borne by the contributions calculated from its members, including provisional members, in accordance with Article 171 (2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. (a) and 173 of the Convention and with this Agreement, until the Office has sufficient resources from other sources to cover such expenditure. The Authority shall not exercise the powers referred to in Article 174 (1) of the Convention to borrow funds to finance its administrative budget.
15. Pursuant to Article 162 (2) (o) (ii) of the Convention, the Office shall draw up and adopt rules, regulations and procedures based on the principles contained in Sections 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of this Annex, as well as any other rules, regulations and procedures necessary for the adoption of a survey or extraction plan, in accordance with the following subparagraphs:
(a) The Council may take up the preparation of all or some of these rules, regulations and procedures at any time if it finds that they are necessary for the management of activities in the Area, or if it decides that commercial exploitation is very timely, or at the request of the State of which the member intends to apply for approval of the extraction plan;
(b) if the State referred to in the subparagraph (a) makes an application, the Council shall finalise the adoption of those rules, regulations and procedures in accordance with Article 162 (2) (o) of the Convention within two years of the date of submission of the request;
(c) if the Council has not completed the development of the rules, regulations and procedures for extraction at the prescribed time and the request for approval of the mining work plan is being discussed, the Council must assess and provisionally approve such a work plan based on the provisions of the Convention and on any rules, regulations and procedures which the Council has provisionally adopted or on the basis of the standards contained in the Convention and the conditions and principles contained in this Annex, as well as the principles of non-discrimination between contrahents.
16. The draft rules, regulations and procedures and any recommendations relating to the provisions of Part XI, as contained in the reports and recommendations of the Preparatory Commission, shall take account of the adoption of rules, regulations and procedures in accordance with Part XI and this Agreement.
17. The relevant provisions of Section 4 of Part XI of the Convention shall be interpreted and implemented in accordance with this Agreement.
UNDERTAKING
1. The Secretariat of the Office shall perform the functions of: Business until the Company starts operating independently from the Secretariat. The Secretary-General of the Office shall appoint an interim Director-General from among the staff of the Office to supervise the performance of these functions by the Secretariat. These functions are:
(a) monitoring and assessing trends and developments in the field of deep-sea mining, including regular analyses of the world market conditions for metals and metal prices, trends and perspectives;
(b) an evaluation of the results of the implementation of marine scientific research with a focus on activities in the Area with a particular emphasis on research into the impact of activities in the Area on the environment;
(c) an evaluation of the search and survey data obtained, including criteria for this activity;
(d) monitoring of technical developments relating to activities in the Area, in particular technology related to the protection and conservation of the marine environment;
(e) evaluation of information and data on works reserved for the Office;
(f) assessment of approaches to joint ventures operations;
(g) collecting information on the possibilities for obtaining qualified labour;
(h) studying the possibilities of management methods available in managing the Enterprise at different stages of its activity.
2. The undertaking shall lead its initial operations in deep-sea mining through joint undertakings. After approval of the mining plan for an entity other than Enterprise, or after the Council has accepted the request for joint operation with Enterprise, the Council shall discuss the business of the Enterprise independently of the Secretariat of the Office. Where joint operations with the Enterprise comply with sound commercial principles, the Council shall issue a binding directive pursuant to Article 170 (2) of the Convention providing for such independent action.
3. The commitment of the participating States to finance a single mining site of Enterprise as provided for in Article 11 (3) of Annex IV to the Convention shall not apply and the participating States shall not be bound by the financing of any operations in any mining site of Enterprise or under its arrangements on the Joint Undertaking.
4. The commitments applicable to contra-hents shall also apply to the Company. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 153 (3) of the Convention and Article 3 (5) of Annex III to the Convention, the approved work plan shall take the form of a contract between the Office and the Enterprise.
5. The contra-hent, which provided a certain area of the Office as a dedicated part, has the right to enter into the Joint Undertaking Agreement for the purpose of exploration and production in the field. If an undertaking does not submit a request for a work plan for that reserved part within 15 years of the start of its activity, independently of the Secretariat of the Office, or if it is later, within 15 years of the date on which that part was reserved to the Office, the contra-hent which provided that part shall be entitled to apply for a work plan for that part, provided that it involves in good faith the undertaking as a partner in the joint venture.
6. Article 170 (4) of the Convention, Annex IV and other provisions of the Convention relating to Enterprise shall be interpreted and implemented in accordance with this Section.
DECISIONS
The general principles of the Office's policy shall be laid down by the Assembly in cooperation with the Council.
2. As a general rule, decisions in all the Authority's bodies should be taken by consensus.
3. If all efforts to reach a consensus decision have been exhausted, the Assembly shall adopt decisions on procedural matters by the majority of the members present and voting and decisions on substantive issues by two thirds of the members present and voting as provided for in Article 159 (8) of the Convention.
4. The decisions of the Assembly on any matter which also falls within the competence of the Council or on administrative, budgetary or financial matters shall be based on the Council's recommendations. If the Assembly does not adopt a Council recommendation on any matter, it shall refer the matter back to the Council for further consideration. The Council will then re-examine this matter in the light of the views expressed by the Assembly.
5. Where all efforts have been made to reach consensus in decision-making, the Council shall adopt decisions on procedural matters of the majority of members present and voting and decisions on substantive matters, except where the Convention requires a decision of consensus in the Council by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, provided that such decisions are not rejected by a majority in any of the chambers referred to in paragraph 9. When taking decisions, the Council shall endeavour to promote the interests of all members of the Office.
6. The Council may postpone the decision to allow further negotiations whenever it appears that all the possibilities of reaching consensus on the issue have not yet been exhausted.
7. Decisions of the Assembly or of the Council having financial or budgetary implications shall be based on recommendations of the Financial Committee.
8. Article 161 (8) (b) and (c) of the Convention shall not apply.
9. (a) Each group of States elected under paragraph 15 (a) to (c) shall be deemed to be a chamber for voting in the Council. Developing States elected pursuant to paragraphs 15 (d) and (e) shall be considered as a single chamber for the purposes of voting in the Council;
(b) before the election of the members of the Council, the Assembly shall draw up lists of countries meeting the criteria for membership of groups of States referred to in paragraphs 15 (a) to (d). Even if the State meets the criteria for membership of more than one group, it can only be proposed for elections to the Council by one group and will only represent that group when voting in the Council.
10. Each group of States referred to in paragraph 15 (a) to (d) shall be represented in the Council by those members proposed by that group. Each group will only propose as many candidates as there are seats to fill. If the number of potential candidates in each group referred to in paragraphs 15 (a) to (e) exceeds the number of seats available for each of these groups, then the principle of rotation shall be applied as a general rule. States constituting each of these groups shall determine how this principle will be applied in their group.
11. (a) The Council shall approve the recommendations of the Legal and Technical Commission to approve the work plan unless it decides not to adopt the work plan by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, including the majority of the members present and voting in each Council Chamber. If the Council has not taken the decision recommended for approval of the work plan within the time limit set, the recommendation shall be deemed to have been approved by the Council after that period. The prescribed period shall normally be 60 days, unless the Council decides to fix a longer period. If the Commission recommends not to approve the work plan or does not make a recommendation, the Council may nevertheless approve the work plan in accordance with its rules of procedure for deciding on essential issues;
(b) Article 162 (2) (j) of the Convention shall not apply.
12. If there is a dispute concerning the non-approval of the work plan, the dispute shall be settled in accordance with the dispute settlement arrangements laid down in the Convention.
13. The Legal and Technical Commission shall take decisions by a majority of the members present and voting.
14. Part XI, Section 4, Subsections B and C of the Convention shall be interpreted and implemented in accordance with this Section.
15. The Council shall consist of 36 members of the Office elected by the Assembly in the following order:
(a) four members from participating States who, during the last five years for which statistics are available, have consumed more than 2% of the world consumption value or had net imports of more than 2% of the global import values of commodities produced from mineral categories obtained in the Area, provided that one Eastern European State, measured by gross domestic product, has the largest economy in the region and the State having the largest economy measured by gross domestic product at the date of entry into force of the Convention if those States are interested in being represented in that group;
(b) four members of the eight participating States who have made the largest investment in the preparation and implementation of activities in the Area, whether directly or through their nationals;
(c) four members from participating States which, on the basis of production in areas under their jurisdiction, are the main net exporters of the categories of minerals obtained in the Area, including at least two developing States in which exports of such minerals substantially affect their economy;
(d) six members from developing participating States representing special interests. The specific interests to be represented shall include States with a large population, landlocked or geographically disadvantaged, island States, States which are the main importers of the categories of minerals obtained in the Area, States which are potential producers of such minerals, and least developed States;
(e) eighteen members elected under the principle of ensuring a fair geographical distribution of posts in the Council as a whole, provided that each geographical region has at least one member elected under this subparagraph. For this purpose, geographical regions shall be considered as: Africa; Asia; Eastern Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; Western Europe and other states.
16. Article 161 (1) of the Convention shall not apply.
FINAL CONFERENCES
Article 155 (1), (3) and (4) The conventions relating to the review conference shall not apply. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 314 (2) of the Convention, the Assembly may, on the basis of a recommendation from the Council, review at any time the matters referred to in Article 155 (1) of the Convention. Amendments relating to this Agreement and to Part XI shall be subject to the procedures contained in Articles 314, 315 and 316 of the Convention, provided that the principles, arrangements and other conditions referred to in Article 155 (2) of the Convention are maintained and that the rights referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article are not affected.
TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY
1. In addition to the provisions of Article 144 of the Convention, the transfer of technology for the purposes of Part XI shall be governed by the following principles:
(a) The undertaking and developing States interested in acquiring technology for deep-sea mining shall endeavour to acquire it under fair and reasonable commercial conditions on the free market or through arrangements on the joint venture;
(b) if the undertaking or developing States are unable to obtain a technology for deep-sea mining, the Authority may request the cooperation of all or one of the contrahents and their proposing State or States to cooperate in facilitating the acquisition of such technology for the undertaking or its joint venture or for the developing State or States which seek to acquire it under fair and reasonable commercial conditions, compatible with the effective protection of intellectual property rights. Participating States shall undertake to cooperate fully and effectively with the Office for this purpose and shall also ensure that their proposed counterhents cooperate fully with the Office;
(c) the general principle is that participating States promote international technical and scientific cooperation concerning activities in the Area either between stakeholders or the establishment of training, technical assistance and scientific cooperation programmes in marine science and technology, as well as the protection and conservation of the marine environment.
2. Article 5 of Annex III to the Convention shall not apply.
PRODUCTION POLICY
1. The production policy of the Office shall be based on the following principles:
(a) the development of the resources of the Area is governed by sound commercial principles;
(b) the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, its relevant codes and subsequent or replacing agreements are implemented in relation to activities in the Area;
(c) in particular there will be no subsidisation of activities in the Area, except in cases authorised under the agreements referred to in the subparagraph (b). Subsidies shall be defined for the purposes of these principles in accordance with the terms of the agreements referred to in the subparagraph (b);
(d) discrimination between minerals obtained in the Area and from other sources is inadmissible. Such minerals or imports of commodities produced from these minerals have no preferential access to markets, in particular not:
(i) the introduction of tariff or non-tariff barriers to trade; and
(ii) by granting the participating States preferential access to markets for minerals or commodities produced by their national undertakings or by natural or legal persons having their nationality or controlled by those States or their nationals;
(e) the extraction plan approved by the Office for each part contains a schedule of expected production, which includes an estimated maximum quantity of minerals to be extracted annually in accordance with the work plan;
(f) The following provisions shall apply for the resolution of disputes concerning the provisions of the agreements referred to in the subparagraph (b):
(i) where the participating States concerned are parties to such agreements, they shall apply the means of settling disputes under those agreements;
(ii) where one or more of the participating States concerned are not parties to such agreements, they shall apply the dispute settlement arrangements laid down in the Convention;
(g) in cases where it is established under the agreements referred to in the subparagraph (b) that a participating State has been involved in subsidisation which is prohibited or which has resulted in an adverse effect on the interests of another participating State and that appropriate action has not yet been taken by the participating State or States concerned, the participating State may request the Council to take appropriate measures.
2. The principles contained in paragraph 1 shall not affect the rights and obligations arising from any of the provisions of the agreements referred to in paragraph 1 (b), or any other relevant free trade or customs union agreements, in relations between participating States which are parties to such agreements.
3. If a contra-hent accepts subsidies other than those authorised under the agreements referred to in paragraph 1 (b), it shall commit a breach of the basic terms of the contract which constitutes a work plan for the execution of an activity in the Area.
4. Any participating State which has a legitimate suspicion that the requirements of paragraphs 1 (b) to (d) or 3 have been infringed may initiate a dispute settlement procedure in accordance with paragraph 1 (f) or (g).
5. A Participating State may at any time draw the Council's attention to activities which, in its opinion, conflict with the requirements of paragraphs 1 (b) to (d).
6. The Authority shall establish rules, regulations and procedures to ensure the implementation of the provisions of this Section, including the relevant rules, regulations and procedures for the approval of work plans.
7. Article 151 (1) to (7) and (9), Article 162 (2) (q), Article 165 (2) (n) of the Convention and Article 6 (5) and Article 7 of Annex III to the Convention shall not apply.
ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE
1. The Authority's policy on assistance to developing countries that have to face adverse effects on their export income or on their economy as a result of a reduction in the price of minerals or the volume of exports of the mineral in question, where such reduction was due to activities in the Area, shall be based on the following principles:
(a) The Office shall set up an economic assistance fund for the part of the Office's appropriations remaining after the Office's administrative expenditure has been paid. The amount reserved for this purpose shall be determined from time to time by the Council on the basis of recommendations from the Financial Committee. Only funds from payments received from contractors, including Enterprise, and voluntary contributions shall be used to establish this economic assistance fund;
(b) developing States which are land producers whose economies have been seriously affected by deep-sea mineral production shall be provided with assistance from the economic assistance fund;
Sign in for notes, favorites and notifications
Regulation Information
| Citation | Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No 241 / 1996 Coll., on the Agreement on the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | International Treaty |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 06.09.1996 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 28.07.1996 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
Legal Areas:
International law
International public law
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
Comments 0