The Mining Code

The fundamental rights of all States to carry out activities in the Area is set out in Part XI of UNCLOS and the 1994 Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of UNCLOS. ISA is mandated by the 1994 Agreement to adopt the necessary rules, regulations and procedures to facilitate activities in the Area as exploration activities progress.

The Mining Code represents this regulatory framework. The Mining Code comprises rules, regulations and procedures issued by the ISA to regulate prospecting, exploration and exploitation of marine minerals in the Area.

Exploration regulations

There are three sets of exploration regulations in place, covering the prospecting and exploration for mineral resources in the Area for:

These regulations are supplemented by a series of recommendations for the guidance of contractors and sponsoring States. The recommendations are issued by the Legal and Technical Commission and are periodically updated. The recommendations can be accessed here.

Exploitation regulations

Since 2014, ISA has been developing rules, regulations and procedures to govern the exploitation phase, including necessary standard and guidelines.

Exploitation regulations aim to balance economic needs with rigorous environmental protection. Once in place, they will require any entity planning to undertake activities in the international seabed area to abide by stringent global environmental requirements.

Following a series of public consultation and progress briefings to the Council, the Legal and Technical Commission prepared and submitted draft exploitation regulations to the Council in 2019 (ISBA/25/C/WP.1).

The draft exploitation regulations have been under consideration by the Council since then. The work of the Council has been carried out in plenary and in informal working groups established by the Council. More information on the current status of the draft exploitation regulations can be accessed here.