UNITED NATIONS THIRD CONFERENCE ON THE LAW OF THE SEA, SECOND SESSION, FIRST COMMITTEE PROVISIONAL SUMMARY RECORD OF THE FIRST MEETING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 3, 2001
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: July 15, 1974
• Content Type: SUMMARY

Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82SO0697R000300020002-3
UNITEOD NATIONS
THIRD' CONFERENCE
ON'THE LAS .:E THE SEA
PROVISIONAL
For Pazticinants only
A/CONF:62/C.1/SR.l
15, Jury - 1974
ENGLISH
.,ORIGINAL: FRENCH
Second Session
FIRST COMMITTEE
PROVISIONAL SUMMAB RECORD OF THE FIRST MEETING
Held at the Psrque Central, CaA.acas,
on Wednesday, 10 -July 1974, at 11.40 a.m.
Chairman: Mr. ENGO
CONTENTS
,..Organization of work
United Republic of Cameroon
Corrections to this record should be submitted in one of the,four working
languages (English, French, Russian or Spanish), preferably in ' same language as
the text to which.. they refer. Corrections' should be sent in quadruplicate within
five working days to the chief, Documents Control, Room 9, Nivel Lecuna, Edificio
Anauco, and also incorporated in one copy of the record.
AS THIS RECORD WAS DISTRIBUTED ON 15 JULY 1974, THE TIME-LIMIT FOR CORRECTIONS
WILL BE 22 JULY 1974.
The co-operation of. participants in strictly observing this time-limit would be
greatly appreciated.
C-5109
Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82SO0697R000300020002-3
 Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002-3
A/CONF.62/C.1/SR.1
English
Page 2
The CHAIRMAN* said that the Caracas meeting was the culmination of a long
and arduous effort that had fostered an awareness of the multidimensional importance
of the oceans to mankind and of the magnitude and complexity of the problems of their
utilization. In the past some attempts at regulation and organization had been made,
but had met with little or no success. In recent years, however, a considerable
number of new countries had appeared on the scene and they had exerted revolutionary
pressures on the existing order, which they had not helped to establish and whose rules
they did not always accept, as witnessed by the increasingly frequent disputes over
fishing, the unilateral extension of territorial waters and specialized jurisdictions,
all symptoms of the need to alter the legal framework governing the oceans.
The task of the Conference, and more particularly of the First Committee, was
therefore to build a new legal order for the oceans, pragmatic and durable enough to
harmonize diverse interests, while taking account of the wider realities of history.
The Committee must legislate for posterity, adopting treaty articles that could
withstand inevitably changing times. The Conference was fortunate in being equipped
with a number of new conceptual elements, and the First Committee would have as its
working base the Declaration of Principles governing the sea-bed and the ocean floor
and the subsoil thereof beyond the limits of national jurisdiction; it should also
take account of the concept that the area and its resources constituted the common
heritage of mankind, which transcended the inherent opposition between the doctrines
of res nullius and res communis. That, together with the plan to establish an
international regime and machinery to ensure the "orderly and safe development and
rational management of the area and its resources" for the benefit of "mankind as a
whole", offered a number of new approaches that promised to halt and reverse the
descent into chaos. More specifically, the issues to be dealt with related to the
status, scope and basic provisions of the regime to be established based on the
Declaration of Principles, and the status, scope, functions and powers of the
international machinery.
* The full text of the statement made by the Chairman will be issued as
document A/CONF.62/C.1/L.1
Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002-3 /.. .
 Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82SO0697R000300020002-3
A/CONF.62/C.1/SR.1
English
Page 3
(The Chairman)
Each State or group of States wasche best Judge of its own needs, interests and
priorities. It was therefore important to listen to others and to be heard by them,
for there could be.no true spirit of compromise without an understanding of what truly
hurt others. In international relations it was becoming obvious that economic,
political or numerical threats were no longer effective, and that was another important
reason for trying to reconcile conflicting views born of the divergency of interests
and needs. Every delegation should therefore be imbued with a sense of its
responsibility towards its own country and also towards the international community as
a whole.
Turning to the question of the organization of the work of the Committee, he said
that the Conference hadonly:36 working days left to conclude its work. During that
period, the First.. Committee must negotiate treaty articles and have them included in
a larger framework to be submitted for adoption by the Conference as an integral part
of the convention on the law of the sea. He therefore appealed to representatives not
to waste time on procedural matters and, in organizing their work, to allow sufficient
latitude to modify and adapt current positions to future requirements.
He also requested representatives to be fully aware of the nature and complexity
of the task entrusted to the Committee. The Preparatory Committee had been able to do
no more than assemble widely divergent views in a set of documents, while the task of
the First Committee was to negotiate in order to reconcile divergent views and then to
draft the actual provisions of .a convention. He stressed the fact that the Committee
had not only to take political and economic decisions, but to provide the juridical
background for the convention as a whole.
In connexion with the organization of the work of the Committee, he said that,
after consulting with members of the General Committee and geographical groups, he
wished to make certain proposals. From those consultations it was clear that it would
be prudent to start with a brief period of debate in which representatives would not
only merely reiterate their national position, but would comment on fundamental issues,
the resolution of which would facilitate a consensus on the main points of disagreement,
and in particular would try to eliminate the list of alternatives that appeared in the
documents of the Preparatory Committee. He proposed that the debate should open that
same day, that it should be limited to one week, that the list of speakers should be
closed on 12 July at 5 p.m., and that statements should be restricted to no more than
10 or 15 minutes at the most.
Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82SO0697R000300020002-3 I. ? .
 Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002-3
A/CONF.62/C.1/SR.l
English
Page 4
(The Chairman)
In consultations he had held on issue: before the Committee, two problems had
aroused strong feelings on the part of some delegations : the economic implications of
sea-bed exploitation, and the rules and regulations covering such exploitation. Those
two questions could not fruitfully be discussed in detail in the opening debate. The
Committee would study them later, but the timing and method of their consideration
should be the subject of further consultation.
After the short opening debate, the Committee could be converted into an informal
body of the whole which would meet for two weeks while it attempted to eliminate
unnecessary brackets and alternatives in the documents, thus providing a basis for
realistic negotiations later. However, he did not exclude the possibility of
eliminating all the brackets and alternatives if the Committee could immediately reach
a consensus. After that period, the Committee would hear an oral report on its work.
Meanwhile, he would hold further consultations on the next stage of the work of the
Committee.
In view of the consultations he had held on the subject, he proposed that
Mr. Pinto of Sri Lanka should head the informal body.
Mr. GALINDO POHL (El Salvador) paid a tribute to the Chairman, whose
experience was known to all. He had been asked by the Latin American countries to
express their support of the statement just made by the Chairman. The Latin American
countries approved the division of the word. of the Committee into official and
informal meetings, and the nomination of Mir. Pinto as Chairman for the latter. They
also approved the suggestion to conduct the general debate within the limits suggested
by the Chairman, on the understanding that they represented not a rigid time-table,
but an appeal to the delegations to show due restraint, and that the general debate
would be sufficiently flexible to enable new participants in particular to express
their views. The Latin American countries also agreed to proceed as soon as possible
to the stage of informal discussions and to begin real negotiations. The appropriate
starting-point for those negotiations appeared to be a third reading of the existing
texts, in order to remove the square brackets which still remained and to identify the
key points for negotiation.
Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002-3
 Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002.=3-""'~- ~->-'=
A/CONF.62/C.1/SR,1
English
Page 5
Mr. ILLANES (Chile) wished to underline the importance of the question of
the economic impact of the exploitation of mineral resources of the sea-bed on the
production of countries, in particular of developing countries, which exploited
land-based deposits of the same minerals. In addition to the report of the
Secretary-General (A/CONF.62/C.25), there were also. a number of UIQCTAD documents
on that subject which merited careful examination. It would be most useful if a
representative of UNCTAD were able to attend to present those documents.
Mr. hY'ERA (United Republic of Tanzania) approved the proposals made by the
Chairman and merely wished to say that, in his opinion, the primary task of the
informal discussions should be to examine questions of substance; he did not'think
that it would be possible to overcome the existing difficulties in the course of
official meetings.
Mr. MANNER R (Finland), speaking on behalf of the group of Western European
and other countries, welcomed the appointment of Mr. Engo as Chairman of the
discussions. The group approved the Chairman's proposals as a basis for organizing
the work of the Committee.
Mr. ADEDE (Kenya) supported the Chairman's proposals and pointed out that,
while delegations which had not yet had an opportunity to express their views should
be given an opportunity to do so, the discussions should be directed towards a search
for solutions, without spending any time on policy statements which were already known.
He endorsed the opinion of the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania on
the importance of informal negotiations. It was to be hoped that a third reading of
the text would enable anew document to be prepared which removed existing differences.
Mr. FONSECA (Colombia) said he agreed entirely with the Chairman's proposals
and suggested that the text should be published in full.
Mr. de SOTO (Peru) agreed with the representative of Chile that the
Committee should be able to examine in depth the economic impact of the exploitation
of mineral resources from the sea-bed on the land-based production of-the same minerals
by developing countries. With regard to documents prepared by UNCTAD, he wished to
know what those documents were and whether a representative of UNCTAD could attend in
order to presen ppromved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82SO0697R000300020002-3
/...
 Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002-3
A/C0NF.62/C.l/SR.1
English
Page u
ir. hLVY (Se^rata~y of the Corse't.ee) explained, in reply to the question
raised by the represent:F fives of Chile ar.:i Per,),, that t sere were. in addition to the
report of the Secretary-General on the er:cnomi.c implications of.sea-bed.mineral
development: in the ;nteX1ationel area ( /C0NJF.62/25), several documents prepared by
UNCTAD, a. list of viich as xiver in document A/CCJj?.62/2G. The UNCTAD documents were
available in Caraea. in iinited c?uantit tns but all were not
yet available in all
working languages. Documents Milt/447, 449 and 483/Add.1 were available in all
working languages ; do n went TD/b/4)19/ ii:d. l was available in all working languages
except Chinese, and 8o chant TD/E/ 14d' was available in l!:nrrlish only. The versions
not available in Caracas had been a:k for and would arrive shortly. A representative
of UNCTAD was ex?e.^ted o,1 15 July., but it was not yet known how long he would stay in
Caracas.
PINTO (Sri Lanka) cont,ratulated the Chairman and assured him of the
support of the Asian grc-ut? for the ?roposals he had just made. Ile wished to draw
attention to the irsraortrrce of the ea stion of the economic impact of sea-bed mineral
development on the Lind -Lased Drocueti-n of minerals, and of the question of the general
prir_cipler which should t,overr, thy: e'yoloitation of the sea-bed. He thought it would be
difficult tc ask ne'c ec_;ons L~ rel'ra n from discussing the subject. He endorsed the
opinion of t'r+c represer_ts.ti ve of Colombia that the Chairman's statement should be
published in full. ?
'?i="? '?"`'' L ;~'raalCc,) 3.3,id he was partici.larls -;lad, to have Mr. Engo as
Chairman of tk.e Committee. Hi- delegation thounhi, that the methods suggested were
excellent. The Ccm-ri- tee shvu"d. disperse with theoretical discussions and come to
grips with the conr.rc:;e aroblens. His delegation welcomed the very valuable support
which Air. Pinto' wcul,i ,i-re.
PALACICS (Scli-ia) said he fully agreed with the Chairman's proposals
and would merely etr(-.c%s the .seed to make the work of the Committee as flexible as
possible.
isr. i?111RSI'~ (r unisia) fatly endorsed the Chairman's proposals. In particular,
the general debate shoill be limited as much as possible, while States which had not
participated in the -P-rk of the Sea-Bed Committee should be given an opportunity to
express t'h--ir view,. Fo also endorsed the opinion of the representative of the United
Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82S00697R000300020002-3
 Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82SO0697R00030046Z 62/C.1/$t.1
Page 7
(Mr. Marsit, Tunisia)
Republic of Tanzania that absolute priority be given to the negotiations, in order to
reconcile different points of view. He also supported the suggestion of the
representative of Chile that the Committee should examine the documents prepared by
UNCTAD and hear a representative of that body.
His delegation would like to know whether a document existed or was being considered
on the problem of the distribution of the profits from the exploitation of the
international zone. If the Secretary-General's report (A/CONF.62/65) and the UNCTAD
documents were not sufficiently specific on that point and did not provide the
necessary background information, he asked whether the Secretariat could not prepare
a working document on the subject.
Mr. LEVY (Secretary of the Committee) noted that the Sea-Bed Committee had
examined the question of the distribution of profits from the development of the sea-bed
and that documents had been prepared on it by the Secretariat in 1970 and 1971. No new
document by the Secretariat on the subject existed and it was not possible to express an
opinion on the suggestion without further details from the representative of Tunisia.
The CHAIRMAN said that, if there were no objections, he would'consider that
the Committee approved the proposals made in his initial statement, having regard to
the observations which had been made subsequently, and decided to have the text of the
statement published in full.
It was so decided.
The meeting rose at 11.55 a.m.
Approved For Release 2001/12/04: CIA-RDP82SO0697R000300020002-3