TESTIMONY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82S00697R000400120004-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 4, 2003
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: February 19, 1976
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2004/03/11: CIA-RDP82SO0697R00040
SAT
NSC INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON THE LAW OF THE SEA
1 SC--D/Los #
UNCLASSIFIED
February 19, 1976
Attached for your comments and clearance is draft
testimony of Under Secretary Carlyle E. Maw and Leigh
Ratiner for the Oceanography Subcommittee, House
Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee on Monday,
February 23, 1976.
Please phone clearance to me (632-8232) by
noon Friday, February 20.
Otho E. Eskin
Staff Director
As stated
State Department review completed. Referral to NSC not required.
On file DOI release instructions apply.
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Relealse 2004/03/11: CIA-RDP82SO0697R0004001 C
TESTIMONY OF CARLYLE E. MAW
UNDER SECRETARY FOR SECURITY ASSISTANCE
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BEFORE THE
OCEANOGRAPHY SUBCOMMITTEE
HOUSE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES COMITTEE
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1976
AST
2/18/76
MR. CHAIRMAN, I AM PLEASED TO APPEAR BEFORE THIS
COMMITTEE TODAY TO EXPLAIN THE VIEWS OF THE ADMINISTRATION
CONCERNING INTERIM POLICY FOR DEEP SEABED MINERALS
DEVELOPMENT. AMBASSADOR LEARSON HAS ASKED ME TO EXPRESS
A
HIS REGRETS THATAPREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED COMMITMENT OUT OF
THE COUNTRY PREVENTS HIM FROM BEING HERE TODAY.
I AM ACCOMPANIED BY LEIGH S. RATINER, ADMINISTRATOR,
OCEAN MINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
MR. CHAIRMAN, THE ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN CAREFULLY
REVIEWING ITS INTERIM POLICY WITH RESPECT TO OCEAN MINING.
AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE GENEVA SESSION OF THE LAW OF THE
SEA CONFERENCE LAST MAY, IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT THE ISSUE
OF THE DEEP SEABED REGIME AND MACHINERY WAS A MAJOR
OBSTACLE TO A SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF THE LAW OF THE SEA
NEGOTIATIONS. IN MOST OTHER AREAS WE HAD MADE SUBSTANTIAL
PROGRESS TOWARD A TREATY WHICH THE UNITED STATES AND A
MAJORITY OF OTHER COUNTRIES WOULD PROBABLY BE ABLE TO AGREE
UPON. THIS PROGRESS IS REFLECTED TO A LARGE EXTENT IN THE
SINGLE NEGOTIATING TEXT WHICH WAS PRODUCED AT THE END OF THE
GENEVA SESSION. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE A NUMBER OF PROBLEMS
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
-2-
REMAINING TO BE SOLVED, WE FELT OPTIMISTIC THAT THE BASIC
ELEMENTS OF A SATISFACTORY, COMPREHENSIVE LAW OF THE SEA
PACKAGE COULD BE AGREED UPON IN THE RELATIVELY NEAR
FUTURE, SUBJECT TO ARRIVING AT AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION WITH
RESPECT TO DEEP SEABED MINING,
IN ADDITION TO OUR CONSIDERATION OF THE STATUS OF THE
DEEP SEABED NEGOTIATION, IN ARRIVING AT OUR INTERIM POLICY,
WE ALSO TOOK INTO ACCOUNT THE CURRENT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT
OF UNITED STATES OCEAN MINING COMPANIES. WE ARE ADVISED THAT
AMERICAN OCEAN MINING FIRMS HAVE LARGELY COMPLETED THE RE-
SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PHASE OF THEIR WORK AND WILL BEGIN
THIS YEAR THE EXPENSIVE DEVELOPMENT WORK WHICH PRECEDES
COMMERCIAL RECOVERY OF RESOURCES, UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE
TIMING AND CONTENTS OF A FUTURE TREATY MAY IMPEDE COMMITMENTS
FOR THE SUBSTANTIAL CAPITAL OUTLAYS NECESSARY FOR THIS NEW
LEVEL OF ACTIVITY.
IN OUR POLICY REVIEW WE EXPLORED WHETHER WE COULD
REDUCE THESE INVESTMENT UNCERTAINTIES THROUGH SOME
FORM OF DOMESTIC LEGISLATION WITHOUT DAMAGING THE
LAW OF THE SEA NEGOTIATIONS. THE LATTER POINT IS
PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IN LIGHT OF OUR DECIDED PREFERENCE
TO SEE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESOURCES OF THE SEABED UNDER
A WIDELY ACCEPTED INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT, THE LAW OF THE
SEA CONFERENCE PROVIDES US WITH AN OPPORTUNITY - POSSIBLY OUR
LAST - TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM WHICH WOULD SUBJECT DEEP SEABED
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
-3-
MINING TO WIDELY ACCEPTABLE INTERNATIONAL RULES EMBODIED
IN A TREATY AND RELATED REGULATIONS, SUCH A
SOLUTION CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE RATIONAL AND EFFICIENT USE
OF RESOURCES AND CAN SET A PRECEDENT FOR NEW FORMS
OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE DEVELOPING AND DEVELOPED
NATIONS,
MR. CHAIRMAN, THE ADMINISTRATION HAS NOT AT THIS
TIME REACHED ANY DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS ON THE QUESTION
OF AN APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR OCEAN MINING.
IN MY OWN VIEW, I SEE NO REASON WHY SUCH A PROPOSAL CANNOT
BE FORMULATED RLLATIVELY QUICKLY, ONCE WE CAN PROJECT THE
RESULT OF THE ONGOING DEEP SEABED NEGOTIATIONS IN THE LAW
OF THE SEA CONFERENCE. SOME OF US HAVE DESPAIRED AT THE
COMMITTEE I
/STALEMA:"E APPARENT IN GENEVA AND HAVE EVINCED DOUBTS THAT
AN ACCEPTABLE RESULT COULD BE ACHIEVED IN THESE NEGOTIATIONS
WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME. HOWEVER, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE INTERSESSIONAL WORK OF COMMITTEE I GIVE SOME HOPE, IF
NOT PROMISE, THAT EARLY AND SATISFACTORY ACCOMMODATIONS
CAN BE FOUND WHICH WILL MEET THE BASIC OBJECTIVES OF ALL
INTERESTED NATIONS AND GROUPS OF NATIONS.
Two INFORMAL MEETINGS OF COMMITTEE I REPRESENTATIVES
WERE HELD DURING THE INTERSESSIONAL PERIOD WHICH PROVIDED
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A USEFUL EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON THE MAJOR
ISSUES IN THE DEEP SEABEI) NEGOTIATION AND ON THE SINGLE
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
-4-
NEGOTIATING TEXT. IN ADDITION, OUR REPRESENTATIVES HAVE
BEEN CONSULTING WITH A NUMBER OF KEY FIGURES IN THE
NEGOTIATIONS. IN THESE DISCUSSIONS WE DISCOVERED A
GREATER WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF SOME DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES TO EXPLORE REASONABLE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS
IN COMMITTEE I. THERE WAS SOME RECOGNITION BY DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES THAT THE SINGLE NEGOTIATING TEXT DOES NOT RE-
FLECT THE INTERESTS OF BOTH INDUSTRIALIZED AND DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES IN THE NEGOTIATIONS. IN HIS STATEMENT,
MR. RATINER WILL ELABORATE FOR THE COMMITTEE THESE NEW
DEVELOPMENTS.
THE NEXT SESSION OF THE LAW OF THE SEA CONFERENCE
BEGINS IN NEW YORK THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY. THE IMMINENCE
OF THE NEXT SESSION AND THE PRELIMINARY INDICATIONS THAT
A NEW NEGOTIATING CLIMATE MAY EMERGE IN COMMITTEE I LEADS
US TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WE SHOULD NOT SUPPORT ANY OCEAN
MINING LEGISLATION AT THIS TIME.
I CAN ASSURE YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN, THAT THE QUESTION OF
INTERIM LEGISLATION IN THE EVENT THAT THIS SESSION FAILS
TO MOVE TOWARDS SATISFACTORY RESOLUTION OF THE MAJOR
DISPUTES IN COMMITTEE I HAS A HIGH PRIORITY ON OUR AGENDA.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO GIVE THE MATTER OUR SERIOUS CONSIDERA-
TION AND HOPE TO CONSULT WITH YOU AND OTHER MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS DURING THE COURSE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS TO SHARE OUR
ASSESSMENT OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF CONCLUDING A SATISFACTORY
TREATY.
Approv(TdihNrKRe16A1se 4/6IV' I:RI1APRDP82S00697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
TESTIMONY OF LEIGH S. RATINER
ADMINISTRATOR, OCEAN MINING ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BEFORE THE
OCEANOGRAPHY SUBCOMMITTEE
HOUSE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1976
Mr. Chairman, It is always a pleasure to appear
before this Committee, and I am appreciative of the
opportunity you have provided today for the Administration
to share with you its thinking on the desirability of
interim ocean mining legislation.
As Under Secretary Maw has explained, we have not
had adequate time to review in detail the new bill which
you, Mr. Chairman, have recently introduced. On a variety
of occasions, however, the Administration has provided
comments on the technical aspects of H.R. 1270 and similar
bills that have been before the Congress. I do not believe
it is necessary at this time to summarize our objections
to the approaches contained in these bills.
Last May, I testified before this Committee on the
results of the Geneva session of the Conference in Committee
I. At that time, the United States was greatly disappointed
that the Single Negotiating Text introduced by the Chairman
of Committee I at the end of the Geneva session did not
reflect many of the results which had been reached in
private negotiations on issues of importance to United
States interests in the deep seabed. I described those
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 - 2 -
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82S00697R000400120004-9
areas where we believed progress had been made in private
consultations, but indicated that serious dispute remained
on several of the most fundamental issues in the Committee
I negotiation. Because of the apparent intransigence of
the developing countries on the basic questions of State
access to deep seabed minerals, the need for price and
production controls and the structure and powers of the
international machinery, we had grave reservations that
a law of the sea treaty satisfactory to U.S. interests in
the deep seabed could be concluded.
Following the Geneva session, the Interagency Task
Force on the Law of the Sea conducted a comprehensive
analysis of the Committee I Single Negotiating Text. We
concluded that the draft text required extensive revision
in order to protect basic U.S. requirements of guaranteed
access for States and their nationals to deep seabed mineral
resources, under reasonable terms and conditions and through
an international organization with adequately circumscribed
powers and decision-making procedures. In light of this
review, we have also been carefully examining the need for
and content of possible interim legislative measures for
ocean mining.
Our assessment of the need for interim deep seabed
legislation has been strongly affected by developments in
the Committee I negotiation since the Geneva session of the
LOS Conference. During the intersessional period, those
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82S00697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
- 3 -
delegations most active in Committee I expressed an interest
in continuing negotiations with a view towards advancing
the Committee's work prior to the commencement of the next
session. Thus, in November, and again in the first two
weeks of February, informal meetings of Committee i were
held in New York. In addition, extensive private consul-
tations on deep seabed issues have been held with key
leaders in the Committee.
The results of these consultations are by no means
dramatic, but they do offer some hope that the more extreme
positions of developing countries in Committee I could
conceivably be modified at the next session of the Conference.
If this recent tendency to moderate developing country
demands in the negotiation were accelerated during the
March session, I believe it could alter our previous assess-
ment: that an early and acceptable resolution of the major
deep seabed issues is not possible. The evidence which might
be interpreted as signs of emerging flexibility on the part
1-
of the developing country leadership can be characterized
in the following manner:
--First, there was a new willingness to confront
squarely many of the principal, most divisive issues in the
Single Negotiating Text and to explore viable compromises
acceptable to both the developing and developed countries.
In the past, the developing countries had maintained extreme
positions both privately and publicly on the basic access
r sYsnm, the question of economic implications and the powers
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9 -
 - 4 -
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
and decision-making proced ?re of the Authority Their
readiness to show flexibility on certain aspects of these
key obstacles to progress in the negotiation may indicate
that they are prepared to work towards an early settlement
in Committee I. As we have repeatedly stated, many of the
important details of the Single Negotiating Text can be
expeditiously resolved, if there is the will to seek
political accommodation.
--Second, there was a willingness to explore potential
compromises in the context: of formulating precise amendments
to the Single Negotiating Text.
--Third, the Chairman of Committee I, Paul Engo, has
devised a procedure for preparing on a personal basis revised
draft articles attempting to reflect the main trends in these
informal discussions. This procedure sharply contrasts
with the preparation of the Single Negotiating Text, which
did not reflect consultations.
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : Cl&. .LP82S00697R000400120004-9
Thus, the New York meeting just concluded resulted
in the formulation by the Chairman of six new, revised
articles for the Single Negotiating Text. With your
permission, Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit these
draft articles for the record.
Mr. Chairman, it is necessary to emphasize clearly
at this juncture that these texts have no official status
whatsoever. They are only the attempt of the Chairman to
reflect the main themes emerging in the discussion on
basic issues. Moreover, I do not in any way intend to
give the impression that the U.S. finds these draft articles
acceptable as final treaty provisions. We do not believe
they are, not only because of their content, but also
because of their inevitable dependence on a host of other
important amendments which were not discussed in the New
York meetings.
What these draft articles appear to represent is an
attempt by some, although by no means all, of the members
of the Group of 77 to remove from the Single Negotiating
Text some of the more extreme elements of previous developing
country positions. Whereas the original versions of these
articles in the Single Negotiating Text manifested a one-sided
and essentially biased approach to the issues, these new
draft.articles at least embody a more realistic view of
potential area for compromise.
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
For example, the revised Article 22, which sets forth
the basic access system for ocean mining now recognizes
the right of States and private parties to undertake
directly exploration and exploitation under the same basic
terms and conditions applied to the Authority's operational
arm, the Enterprise. Another revised text dealing with the
general economic principles to be applied to ocean mining
under the treaty, Article 9, now contains certain new
approaches to protecting developing country producers
from the economic effects of ocean mining and does not
refer to the Authority's exercise of direct price and
production controls. Given the highly tentative and
informal nature of these draft articles, it would not
appear necessary to analyze them in detail today.
It would in all candor be very difficult to predict
with any confidence whether these first glimmerings of
moderation on the part of the Group of 77 leadership and
a readiness to expedite the Committee I negotiation will
be borne out in the upcoming March session. At virtually
any time in the next few months, the situation could
change radically and prospects for a successful settlement
could vanish.
The Group of 77 convenes at the beginning of March
to. develop its position for the Conference and will most
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : gA-RDP82S00697R000400120004-9
certainly review the Committee I intersessional work. A
rejection of the results of the recent New York session
which reflect an attempt by some to take into account the
interests of the industrialized countries, as well as of
the developing countries, would be a major set-back. It
would be a signal that there is little hope for progress
in the negotiation.
If the substantive negotiation is to be completed this
year, significant progress in Committee I in resolving
the chief obstacles impeding an overall settlement will
have to be made early in the March session. Unless the
basic political accommodation on the key outlines of the
total package can be tied down rapidly to the satisfaction
of both the developing and industrialized States, insufficient
time would remain to negotiate the host of subsidiary issues
in the Single Negotiating Text which will be determinative
of the treaty's acceptability to the United States.
On the eve of the third substantive session of the Law
of the Sea Conference, there appears to be a genuine recog-
nition amonr many nations that 1976 is the final opportunity
for serious negotiation. Whether a comprehensive law of the
sea treaty is concluded will largely depend on the political
will of the Conference participants.
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82S00697R000400120004-9
 Approved For Release 2004/03/11 :.CAA-RDP82S00697R000400120004-9
The Administration will have to keep the question of
the desirability of deep seabed mining legislation under
constant review, particularly in light of what happens
at the next session of the LOS Conference. The most
recent developments in the Committee I negotiation reported
to you today lead us to believe that we should not put
forward the Administration position on legislation at this
time. We would prefer to suspend the debate on whether
or not there should be legislation if it is not possible
to conclude an early and satisfactory resolution of the
deep seabed negotiation. Instead, we intend to devote
our efforts to pursuing the chances of success at the
Conference in the next few months.
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82S00697R000400120004-9
 STAT Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP82SO0697R000400120004-9