UNITED NATIONS THIRD CONFERENCE ON THE LAW OF THE SEA, THIRD SESSION, PROVISIONAL SUMMARY RECORD OF THE FIFTY-SECOND PLENARY MEETING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82S00697R000300110016-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 30, 2001
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: April 7, 1975
• Content Type: SUMMARY

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THIRD CONFERENCE
ON THE LAW OF THE SEA
Third Session
PROVISIONAL STJI~IMY RECORD OF THE FIFTY-SECOND PLENARY MEETING
hold at the Palais des Nations, Geneva,
on Monday, 17 March 1975, at 3.30 p.m.
President: Mr. A11ERASINGHE
Rapporteur-General: Mr. RATTRAY
CONTENTS
Distr.
RESTRICTED
7 April 1975
Original: ENGLISH
Opening of the session
Minute of silence for prayer or meditation-
Statement by the President
Message from the Secretary-General
Adoption of the agenda
Organization of work
N. B. Participants wishing to have corrections to this provisional stunmary record
incorporated in the final summary record of the meeting are requested to
submit them-in writing in quadruplicate, preferably on a copy of the record
itself, to the Official Records Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des
Nations, Geneva, within five working days of receiving the provisional record
in their working language.
A/CO14F. 62/ SR. 52/Rev.1
GE.75-64185
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OPENING OF THE SESSION
The PRESIDENT declared open the third session of the Third United Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea.
MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR PRAYER OR MEDITATION
On the proposal of the Presidents ticipan.ts observed a minute of silence for
prayer or meditation.
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
The PRESIDENT welcomed the delegation of Grenada, which was participating
for the first time as a full member of the Conference, and the delegation of Papua
New,(ka.:.nea, the Cook Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Niue, Surinam, the West-Indies
Associated States and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands which had been
invited to attend the session as observers.
He also welcomed the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the Third
United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, Mr. Bernardo Zuleta, and paid tribute
to the former Special Representative, Mr. Constantin Stavropoulos, for the outstanding
service he had rendered to the Conference.
He appealed to all delegations to participate constructively, in a spirit of co-
operation and goodwill, in negotiations and consultations and to make every effort to
achieve satisfactory results by the reconciliation of conflicting views and positions,
rather than by confrontation. In the limited time at its disposal, the Conference
had a duty and obligation to produce the results which the international,community
expected of-it.
In accordance with established practice, he wished to inform the Conference of
the recommendations made by the General Committee at its seventh meeting.
The Committee had recommended that in rule 56 of the rules of procedure the word
"Arabic" shouldbe added. at the beginning of the existing text. It had also
recommended that the following rule 63A should be,added to chapter X:
"Observers invited in accordance with Paragraph 3 of General Assembly _
resolution X334 (XXIX)
1. Representatives designated as observers pursuant to the invitations extended
by the Secretary-General under paragraph 3 of General Assembly
resolution 3334 (XXIX) may participate, without the right to vote, in the
deliberations of the Conference, the Main Committees and, as appropriate, the
subsidiary organs.
2. Written statements of such observers shall be distributed by the Secretariat
to the delegation at the Conference."
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He took it that the conference agreed to the recommendations-of the
General Committee.
It was so decided.
Mr. AGUILAR (Venezuela) said that an understanding had been reached by the
Latin American Group at the first session of the Conference that his election as'
Chairman of the Second Committee would apply only with regard to the session to be
held at Caracas. He therefore wished to inform the conference of his withdrawal from
that post, and nominated Ambassador Reynaldo Galindo-Pohl of El Salvador for election
as Chairman of the Second Committee.
Mr. ZEGERS (Chile) stated that the Latin American Group,endorsed the
election of Mr. Galindo-Pohl as Chairman of the Second Committee. It had also been
understood at the first session that there should be a consequent change in the
membership of the Drafting Committee, in which Venezuela would replace El Salvador.
The PRESIDENT expressed the gratitude of the conference for the able and
devoted work carried out by Mr. Aguilar as Chairman of the Second Committee. He
assumed that the Conference wished to elect Mr. Galindo-Pohl as Chairman of the
Second Committee, with Venezuela replacing El Salvador as a member of the
Drafting Committee. He assumed that the Conference likewise agreed that, in
accordance with earlier understandings, Ireland should replace Belgium as a
Vice-President of the Conference.
It was so decided.
MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
Mr. ZULETA (Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the
Conference) read out a message from the Secretary-General to the Conference.
The Secretary;General stated that the Conference was approaching a crucial stage
in the process which had started when the General Assembly in December 1970 established
the Conference and entrusted it with one of the most difficult'and complex tasks ever
placed before a United Nations body. The challenge was immense, and the process of
reaching enduring agreements would not be quickly concluded. There were those who
believed that the problems were so great that they would prove incapable of
international solution; even those who were less pessimistic entertained serious and
understandable doubts. However, while much remained to be done, there were certain
aspects of the progress of the Conference which were a source of encouragement and
optimism.
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In Caracas a unique global debate at which, for the first time in history,
virtually all interested nations were represented, had been concluded. In the past the
oceans had been regarded as the prerogative of a few mercantile powers, but it had
recently come to be recognized that the seas and the oceans were the concern of all and
that the vital matters of their efficient and equitable regulation could be resolved
only by global strategies and understandings,, within which international, bilateral and
national policies had to be framed. That fact in itself was a remarkable advance.
Since the second session of the Conference there had been intense informal
negotiations. At Caracas the foundations for those consultations had been laid in the
form of agreements on the machinery for derision-making and through the emergence of
certain dominant trends in.the global debate. In other words, the Conference had gone
some way towards creating a future law of the sea which would be acceptable to all.
The Conference should be viewed in the context of current endeavours by the
United Nations to devise global responses to world problems. Progress had been made
on questions of population, food and the creation of a new international economic order.
The law of the sea, for all its specific and particular problems, was a vital part of
that global strategy and could not be regarded in isolation.
At the beginning of the second session he had said that old quarrels on land must
not be replaced by new quarrels at sea. The potentialities for such conflict were
very considerable, and, given the inevitable development of marine technology, were
bound to increase unless agreement was reached while there was still time to do so.
The real significance of the Caracas session and the subsequent negotiations was that
that fact was generally recognized and that there was evidence of a general desire to
find practical solutions to very intricate problems.
In conclusion, the Secretary-General had expressed the hope that the deliberations
would be guided by a genuine will to succeed and that they would mark a real and
notable advance towards trLo and durable agreements in a difficult and crucially
important area of international concern.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA (A/CONF.62/36)
The agenda was adopted.
ORGANIZATION OF WORK
The PRESIDENT announced that, in addition to the non-governmental
organizations earlier invited to send observers to the Conference in pursuance of
resolutions 3029 A (XXVII) and 3067 (XXVIII), Bahd'i International Community, the
Commission of the Churches on International Affairs and the World Alliance of Young
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Men's Christian Associa,cions had asked to be included in the list of non-governmental
organizations approved by the Conference. If he heard no objection he would take it
that the Conference approved their requests.
It was so decided.
The PRESIDENT pointed out that at the end of the second session the
Conference had agreed that the stage of general debate and. general statements had been
concluded and that from the outset the current session should be devoted to negotiations
on issues of substance. It was therefore desirable that the Main Committees should
immediately initiate the process of negotiation, avoiding general debate and allowing
ample time for consultations and negotiations.' Each committee would, of course,
decide on the best arrangements for the organization of its work. As many
delegations were small, it would be advisable to establish a proper schedule in advance
in each committee in order to enable delegations to deploy their personnel to the
best advantage. .
Moreover, it was essential to ensure sound co-ordination in the work and progress
of the three committees in order to preserve the unity of the subject as a whole. To
that end, he would maintain constant contact and consultations with the Chairman of
the Main Committees, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee and the Rapporteur-General.
He urged all groups to endeavour to consult one another as much as possible. In
particular, all groups should arrange their meetings in such a way as not to disrupt
or interfere with the work of the Main Committees; the importance of punctuality in
that context was obvious.
By the end of the first two weeks the Conference, would have to give careful
consideration to the question of whether all efforts to reach general agreement had
been exhausted and, if agreement was within sight, what further time should be
allocated for that purpose.
In conclusion, he invited the Conference to approve the General Committee's
recommendation that 28 March and 31 March should be observed as holidays in accordance
with the prevailing practice in Geneva.
It was so decided.
The mooting rose at 4.15 'p.m.
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