§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Lord Privy Seal what are the principal outstanding matters to be resolved by the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference; what is the United Kingdom position on these issues; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdThe main outstanding issue is that of the international seabed regime. Our position is that we are seeking to negotiate an internationally acceptable system for the exploitation of deep seabed minerals, which will give assured access to those resources to States, public corporations and private companies as well as the proposed international mining enterprise, thus allowing for orderly and effective exploitation.