JAMAICA, Kingston (18 July 2015) – – The Council of the International Seabed Authority took note of the report of the Chairman of the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) and resumed debate on procedures and criteria for extensions of contracts due to expire in 2016 and 2017 which are covered in the report.
Friday’s discussions on the LTC report focused on section V (Draft regulations for the exploitation of mineral resources in the Area), Section VI (Data Management and Standardization) and Section VII (Matters referred to the Commission by the Council). Annex III of the report, which outlines priority deliverables for the development of the exploitation code over the next 12 -18 months, was also examined.
At the afternoon meeting, the Council was unable to achieve consensus on the Commission’s proposal setting out the procedures for contract extensions (ISBA/21/C/WP.1) despite suspension of the meeting to allow the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States to formulate a new text for the proposal. Action on the proposal has been deferred to continue at this weeks Council meetings.
Full extract of Press Release : SB-21-8
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