Law of the Sea Conference (Hansard, 11 June 1979)

§ Mr. Hurd

At Geneva the conference continued with the work of revising the negotiating text. Consensus was reached on texts on marine pollution and this text together with revised provisions on fisheries and related dispute procedures has been carried into the negotiating text, which now also includes a definition of the outer limit of the continental margin within which the coastal State has exclusive exploitation rights. These important issues now join others on which there is a broad measure of agreement. But the conference still has to agree on important points on deep seabed mining.

The Government consider that the definition of the breadth of the continental shelf should be based on the principle of international law that the coastal States enjoy sovereign rights over the exploration and exploitation of natural resources within the area of seabed which is the natural prolongation of the land territory.

The Government will support proposals designed to ensure that appropriate emphasis is given to median line principles for the delimitation of boundaries of economic and other maritime zones.

The Government consider that the constitution and powers of an international seabed authority should be such as to promote the mining of deep seabed minerals by States, public corporations and private companies, as well as the proposed international mining enterprise, subject to clearly defined conditions which would protect the interests of producers and consumers alike.