US embassy cable - 05KINGSTON2220

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 KINGSTON 002220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NOAA FOR PKRANIOTIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHSA, TPHY, JM 
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY - 2005 (ELEVENTH) 
SESSION OF ASSEMBLY 
 
REF: STATE 145929 
 
Summary - 
1. (U)  The Eleventh Session of the International Seabed 
Authority (ISBA) took place in Kingston, Jamaica from 15-26 
August, 2005.  The majority of the meeting's time was spent 
on the first detailed review of proposed regulations on 
prospecting and exploration for polymetallic sulphides and 
cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the Area.  Even though 
only an observer, the U.S. actively made arguments for 
balance between incentives to develop the resources of the 
Area and environmental concerns.  A revised set of 
regulations will undergo a second round of scrutiny during 
next year's meeting. 
 
2.  (U)  An issue of potentially more immediate concern to 
the U.S. is whether individual members of the ISBA Finance 
Committee can serve more than two terms.  Unfortunately, 
during the discussion of the issue, Australia made the 
suggestion that the meeting of States Party to the Law of the 
Sea (SPLOS) be asked to resolve the question.  Some other 
states, notably Russia, agreed with the proposal. 
Ultimately, with the U.S. and others taking the opposite 
view, there was no consensus on how to move forward.  How the 
issue will be resolved is not clear, but Finance Committee 
elections will need to take place during next year's ISBA 
session. 
 
3. (U)  Other issues that arose included resolution of 
Japan's suggestion to use ISBA program funds to support 
travel of developing country experts to ISBA meetings.  The 
Japanese representative on the FC, apparently after 
considerable pressure from Tokyo, agreed to the proposition 
that the trust fund remain voluntary, and that program funds 
not be used for that purpose.  However, during the course of 
the meeting, ISBA Secretary-General (SYG) Nandan made the 
separate suggestion that a different trust fund be 
established to support developing country scientist 
participation in international research activities.  Funding 
for the proposed trust fund would come from fees 
associated with pioneer investor funds.  The FC will take up 
this suggestion next year.  Korea pushed on the margins to 
determine criteria for membership in the ISBA Council's B 
Chamber - the investor chamber - in order to guarantee its 
own inclusion.  The U.S. was asked to continue a coordinating 
role on this issue.  Germany's application to explore for 
manganese nodules was accepted.  The UK agreed to continue 
coordinating meetings of the group of 10 (G-10) -- Belgium, 
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, 
UK, U.S.  Although not an issue during this meeting, an 
acceptable candidate to succeed SYG Nandan is an issue that 
the U.S. will want to address in the near future. 
End Summary. 
 
---------------------- 
Proposed Regulations 
---------------------- 
 
4.  (U)  The majority of the Eleventh Session of the 
International Seabed Authority (ISBA) that took place in 
Kingston, Jamaica from 15-26 August 2005, was taken up by the 
first detailed review of proposed regulations on prospecting 
and exploration for polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich 
ferromanganese crusts in the Area.  Note:  Roughly speaking, 
under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 
"Area" is defined as the area beyond national jurisdictions. 
End Note.  Even though only an observer to the meeting, the 
U.S. actively made arguments for balance between incentives 
to develop the resources of the Area and environmental 
concerns.  A revised set of regulations will undergo a second 
round of scrutiny during next year's meeting. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Comment:  During the discussions, some of the most 
consistent voices in favor of environmental protections - 
Brazil, Argentina, Australia - also happened to be land-based 
producers of metals.  When we asked representatives of 
metal-consuming countries how much interest the proposed 
regulations were generating among their private sectors, each 
told us that there was virtually no interest.  In fact, no 
delegation was aware of any deep seabed mining being planned 
for the foreseeable future.  We believe this dynamic lends 
itself to a situation where land-based producers will be 
inclined to favor measures that have the impact of raising 
the bar on future deep seabed-based production, while future 
consumers of metals presently have little incentive to 
protect as yet ill-defined deep seabed mining interests.  End 
Comment. 
 
----------------------------- 
Finance Committee Elections 
----------------------------- 
 
6.  (U)  Finance Committee (FC) members serve five-year 
terms.  The terms of two stalwart members, the UK's Michael 
Wood and France's Jean Pierre Levy, will conclude by next 
year's meeting.  During the ISBA meeting, there was 
controversy with regard to whether the UN Convention on the 
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) allows for any given individual to 
serve more than two terms.  The disagreement stemmed from 
possible discrepancies between the official UNCLOS texts in 
the various UN languages.  Apparently the Spanish and French 
texts are fairly definitive that members can only serve two 
terms.  The English text allows for the possibility of 
interpretation. 
 
7.  (SBU)  During the discussion of the issue, the political 
dynamics were such that, generally speaking, the Latin 
countries and some other developing countries favored the 
two-term limitation.  We presume their position was based on 
the consideration that no one individual should be allowed to 
become too powerful within the committee where many states 
will not always have representation.  By contrast, ISBA SYG 
Nandan, apparently fearing loss of some of the individuals he 
has counted on in the past to address the most delicate 
issues raised in the FC, pressed for the more flexible 
interpretation. 
 
8.  (U)  The U.S. took the position that we needed to consult 
legal experts in Washington. Since this issue arose during 
the last hour of the last day, this effectively meant that 
the U.S. was asking that no decision be made.  Unfortunately, 
during the ensuing discussion, Australia made the suggestion 
that the meeting of States Party to the Law of the Sea 
(SPLOS) be asked to resolve the question.  Some other states, 
notably Russia, agreed with the proposal.  Ultimately, with 
the U.S. and others taking the opposite view, there was no 
consensus on how to go forward.  How the issue will be 
resolved is not clear, but FC elections will need to take 
place during next year's ISBA session. 
 
------------------------ 
The Voluntary Trust Fund 
------------------------ 
 
9.  (U)  In 2002, in response to growing developing country 
demands, ISBA established a voluntary trust fund (VTF) aimed 
at defraying the cost of travel of developing country experts 
to meetings of ISBA's Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) 
and Finance Committee (FC.)   Donations to the fund have been 
steady, but relatively minor.  Consequently, the member 
states of ISBA authorized money to be advanced to the VTF 
from interest accrued in an unrelated fund, the Pioneer Fund. 
 
10.  (SBU)  The Government of Japan disassociated itself from 
the latter action and, as an alternative, advocated the 
establishment of a                      contingency fund with 
similar goals as the VTF, but with funds drawn from the ISB 
program budget.  The U.S. and others - France, Germany, UK - 
opposed the concept of using program funds for this purpose. 
In part, we objected to the unhelpful precedent such a means 
of funding would create for the entire UN system.  Throughout 
the course of discussions on this issue, it became clear that 
the Japanese position was the work of its somewhat renegade 
FC representative, and, as we were unofficially told by other 
Japanese representatives, did not accurately represent the 
position of the Japanese government. 
 
11.  (SBU)  After considerable work on the margins of other 
meetings, particularly the 2004 Major Maritime Powers meeting 
and the 2004 UN Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and 
Law of the See meeting, the Japanese government apparently 
decided to assert control over its FC representative. 
Clearly under specific instructions from Tokyo,  in the 2005 
meetings of the FC, the Japanese representative did not raise 
his previous concerns about the VTF and did not insist on use 
of ISBA program funds.  He also agreed to the FC 
recommendation that the VTF be replenished from interest 
accumulated from the Pioneer funds. 
 
12.  (SBU)  Comment:  The greater issue of determining how 
much money is actually available in the Pioneer Fund as 
interest, or even as rincipal, remains to be determined.  We 
expect increasing requests for use of the funds (see below) 
as member states become more cognizant of their existence. 
End Comment. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Proposed Trust Fund to Help Developing Country Scientists 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
13.  (U)  In his report to the meeting, Secretary-General 
(SYG) Nandan proposed the establishment of a trust fund to 
help developing country scientists participate in 
international research projects.  He suggested that money for 
the trust come from funds accrued from pioneer investor fees 
or overages from future administrative fees. Developing 
countries enthusiastically embraced the general concept.  The 
Finance Committee (FC) handled the issue well, first by 
asserting FC authority over the subject, and then by seeking 
a detailed proposal from Nandan on the trust.  The FC also 
engineered that Nandan agree to speak with pioneer investors 
- presumably in case there are any objections to the use of 
these funds for the proposed purpose. 
 
14.  (SBU)  Comment:  This proposed trust fund will be an 
issue during next year's meeting.  What the SYG proposes, and 
how the FC handles its recommendation concerning the trust, 
will both be critical in defining the discussion of the trust 
by ISBA members.  End Comment. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Criteria for Chamber B Eligibility 
---------------------------------- 
 
15.  (U)  On the margins of the ISBA meeting, the Korean 
delegation pushed hard for the Chamber A (roughly consumer 
countries) and Chamber B (roughly investor countries) to work 
towards defining the criteria for membership in Chamber B. 
As per explicit provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of 
the Sea (UNCLOS), only eight member states can be eligible 
for election to the Council from Chamber B.  Eligibility is 
based on national investments in deep seabed mining.  Chamber 
B eligibility was last determined in 1995, and did not 
include Korea.  The U.S. was asked to coordinate the process 
of coming to an acceptable conclusion on eligibility criteria. 
 
16. (U)  On the margins of the ISBA meeting, the U.S. hosted 
a meeting of A-B members to discuss an acceptable process 
leading up to next year's meeting.  The group identified a 
preliminary list of questions to be addressed in determining 
criteria.  That preliminary list includes:  What types of 
resources can be included?  - nodules, sulfides, crusts, 
methane hydrates, others?  What types of activity costs can 
be included? -- marine scientific research, how to 
distinguish basic marine scientific research from 
"prospecting", exploration, ship building, costs of baseline 
studies, costs of training programs, costs incurred by 
private companies?  Which technologies, particularly 
developing technologies? What should be the 
periodicity/interval of review? Should activities within an 
EEZ be included? Who should determine criteria - i.e. role, 
if any, of ISBA Secretariat?  Korea's ultimate position was 
that should this exercise not result in acceptable criteria, 
then it would ask the ISBA Secretariat to promulgate criteria. 
 
17.  (SBU)  Comment:  From the U.S. perspective, Korean 
interests, expressed points of views, and specific 
interpretations of UNCLOS are very similar to our own.  In 
fact, they are closer than some of the countries currently 
included in the B group (Netherlands, for example.) 
Generally speaking, including Korea in the B Chamber seems 
desirable.  However, it is unlikely that this exercise in 
systematically identifying and defining criteria for group B 
membership will ultimately be successful.  Agreeing on 
general criteria will be difficult enough.  Once having 
established those criteria, agreeing on exactly which 
monetary figures can be included, or should be excluded, will 
be virtually impossible to agree on.  Ultimately, as happened 
in 1995, it seems highly likely that only a political 
solution of some kind will conclude this discussion.  End 
Comment. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Succession of ISBA Secretary-General Nandan 
------------------------------------------- 
 
18.  (SBU)  Satya Nandan (Fiji) has been the 
Secretary-General (SYG) of ISBA since 1996, and is the only 
 
SIPDIS 
SYG the organization has had.  During his tenure, for the 
most part, he has balanced the interests of developing and 
developed countries.  However, his re-election in 2004 was 
both contentious and close.  He told us then that he intended 
to seek his government's support for his candidacy as an 
International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) judge. 
Apparently, perhaps given the closeness of the SYG race, his 
government decided not to put his ITLOS candidacy forward. 
Nandan has noticeably aged in the job, allegedly spends as 
little time as possible in Kingston, and though he has not 
told us this directly, must have been disappointed not to be 
selected as an ITLOS candidate.   We believe it is highly 
likely that Nandan will not serve his full term as SYG. 
 
19.  (SBU)  Comment:  The issue of Nandan's succession, 
whenever it arises, will be a critical one with respect to 
shaping the role of ISBA as the organization searches for a 
full-time purpose while seabed mining remains only a distant 
possibility.  Nandan's deputy, Nii Allotey Odunton (Guinea) 
is one possible successor.  However, though Odunton remains a 
viable candidate, he is generally seen as a technician who 
might not have the political savvy required to ensure that 
ISBA not be high-jacked by one of its factions.  ISBA 
candidatures are normally handled through the five UN 
regional groups.  A Western European and Others Group (WEOG) 
candidate is generally assumed not to be politically viable, 
though perhaps a smaller WEOG country - Portugal, Belgium, 
Malta - with a very popular candidate might be feasible. 
Given the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries 
(GRULAC) push to expand the concept of "the common heritage 
of mankind" to include resources other than those 
specifically identified in the UN Convention on the Law of 
the Sea (UNCLOS), it is unlikely that the U.S. would want to 
support a GRULAC based candidate. Grossly speaking, this is 
likely to leave the most viable candidates as coming from the 
Eastern European group, the Asian group, or the African 
group.  End Comment. 
 
------------ 
Other Issues 
------------ 
 
20.  (U)  Dates of Next Year's Session - The Twelfth Session 
of ISBA is tentatively scheduled for August 7-18, 2006, in 
Kingston, Jamaica. 
 
21.  (SBU)  German Application for Seabed Mining -- Germany 
applied for a designated area in which to explore the 
possibility of manganese nodule mining.  The application was 
accepted with little substantive debate except for developing 
countries urging Germany to expand its training program 
associated with the deep seabed exploration.  The German 
delegation promised to attempt to do so.  Specific 
coordinates for the new German area are available at: 
www.isa.org.jm  The German delegation confirmed for us what 
they had told us before:  The German government does not 
intend to mine at the current time.  Instead, the decision to 
seek the approval for exclusive exploratory rights to this 
area was taken in light of a perceived long-term global metal 
demand increases, in combination with an opportunity to 
capitalize on substantial previous research made by a German 
firm no longer interested in the data. 
 
22.  (U)  Elections to the Legal and Technical Commission 
(LTC) and the Finance Committee (FC) - Since the 2004 ISBA 
session, four members of the FC resigned.  They were replaced 
through uncontested elections of a countryman.  New FC 
members are: Oleg A. Safronov (Russia), Alexander Stedtfeld 
(Germany), Antonin Paoizek (Czech Republic), Kyaw Moe Tun 
(Burma).  Similarly, on the LTC, three members resigned over 
the course of the year.  One member died.  All four vacancies 
were filled by uncontested elections of countryman.  New LTC 
members are:  Syamal Kanti Das (India), Mahmoud Samir Samy 
(Egypt), Michael Wiedicke-Hombach (Germany), and Adam M. 
Tugio (Indonesia). 
 
23.  (U)  Elections of Assembly and Council Officers - It was 
the Western European and Others Group's (WEOG) turn to 
provide the Assembly's President. An internal debate was 
resolved on the margins of the UN Informal Consultative 
Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea in June in New York in 
favor of a compromise candidate:  Norway's Olav Myklebust. 
He was subsequently elected at ISBA by consensus.  Assembly 
Vice Presidents, also elected by consensus, were selected 
from Poland (Eastern European group), South Africa (African 
group), Brazil (Latin and Caribbean group) and Bangladesh 
(Asian group.)  In the Council, the Asian Group nominated 
Korean Ambassador Hee Kwon Park to be Assembly Chairperson. 
He was elected by consensus.  Council Vice Chairs, also 
elected by consensus, were selected from:  Canada (WEOG), 
Russia (Eastern European), and Jamaica (Latin and Caribbean.) 
 The African group did not nominate a Vice Chair. 
 
24.  (U)  IUCN Request for Observer Status - IUCN's request 
for observer status was approved by the Assembly without 
debate. 
 
25.  (U)  UK Continues to Lead G-10 - The Group of 10 (G-10) 
is a traditional, self-selected, like-minded group of 
countries that are particularly influential with respect to 
seabed mining and their roles within ISBA.  The group 
consists of:  Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, 
Netherlands, Russia, UK, and the U.S.  The UK, which has led 
the G-10 for the past two years, agreed to continue doing so 
for at least one more year. 
 
26.  (U)  Death of Kenneth Rattray Observed - ISBA 
Secretary-General Nandan made a short intervention on the 
 
SIPDIS 
death of Jamaica's Dr. Kenneth Rattray, a long-time Law of 
the Sea expert.  Many delegates who knew Rattray also made 
statements.  The Jamaican delegation promised to pass on the 
sentiments to the Jamaican Foreign Ministry and to Dr. 
Rattray's family. 
 
27.  (U)  U.S. Delegation - The U.S. delegation, only 
observers since the U.S. is not a member of UNCLOS, consisted 
of Constance C. Arvis, State, OES, Oceans Affairs, head of 
delegation, and Patricia Kraniotis, NOAA, General Counsel's 
Office. 
ROBINSON