LAW OF THE SEA CONFERENCE (Hansard, 4 April 1979)

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)
My Lords, it is too early to say what progress will be made at the current Geneva session, which lasts until 27th April. Previous sessions achieved widespread consensus on many aspects of a possible new convention, but key issues, including agreement on an 1901 international régime for deep seabed mining, remain to be negotiated.

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, have not these discussions been going on now for 15 years? Is it not the basis of the dispute that Governments which have multinational companies seek to exploit minerals while the developing countries have a desire to see them used for all in accordance with the 1970 United Nations declaration that the oceans should be the common heritage of mankind? Can the noble Lord say, if this international authority is established, that there will be arrangements for the transference of technology from multinational companies to that international authority?

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, it is the Government's policy that a future Law of the Sea Convention should provide for reasonably assured access for States, public corporations and private companies as well as the proposed international enterprise. Access would be on a completely non-discriminatory basis although on clearly defined conditions. As to the question of a possible transfer of technology to the international enterprise, I am glad to reassure my noble friend who has shown such interest in this matter that the United Kingdom delegation, joined by other delegations, recently put forward proposals to facilitate, on certain terms and conditions, access by the international enterprise to deep seabed mining technology; so we are within measurable distance of achieving the objective behind the second part of my noble friend's supplementary question. I should like to add that we are also advocating, not without considerable support, the formation of training schemes to enable developing countries' staff on the international enterprise to play their full part when such an enterprise is formally instituted.

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, while welcoming that reply more than the previous one, may I ask whether the Government will support any unilateral action by Governments in this sphere as has been indicated in a Bill introduced in the American Congress?

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, I could not, of course, answer for the parliamentary or other govern- 1902 mental institutions of another member State engaged in these discussions. What I can say is that, as advised, we do not believe that extant and possibly interim measures of this kind will affect the emergence of an acceptable international authority.

Lord CAMPBELL of CROY
My Lords, if agreement cannot be reached in the foreseeable future on the very difficult matter of the seabed mining régime, can the noble Lord tell us whether the Government have plans for proposing that the many other subjects on which agreement has been reached should form the basis of a convention which need not be held up?

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, that option—I cannot call it a decision yet because negotiations are proceeding on the basis of some of the points that occurred to the noble Lord —is very present to our minds. I have said before, with the full consensus of the Government, that if a fully comprehensive convention proved to be impossible, we should all have to consider whether what we have achieved (which is not insignificant, as the noble Lord knows as well as anybody) could be formalised into a convention that would serve the world very well indeed, however marginally short it fell of the national desires of countries such as ours. The point made is very present to our minds.