491 



that there were two major gaps in (a) the legal status of the deep sea 

 resources and (b) ways and means of ensuring that the exploitation 

 of these resources would benefit the developing countries. Those gaps 

 had been judged to cause possible delay in the progress of the studies. 

 As to item (b) , the Secretary General suggested the possibility of pre- 

 paring a more comprehensive report which would include "a study 

 of the legal framework which might be established for the deep sea 

 resources, the administrative machinery which may be necessary for 

 effective management and control, the possible system of licensing 

 and various possible arrangements for redistributing and/or utilizing 

 the funds which would be derived therefrom, including those ear- 

 marked for the benefit of the developing countries." 



Organization of the U.N. Seabed Committee 



An immediate outcome of the Malta proposal was resolution 

 2340 (XXII), dated Dec. 18, 1967, by which the General Assembly 

 created an Ad Hoc Committee to Study the Peace fid Uses of the Sea- 

 Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jwrisdiction. 

 The resolution recognized the extent and speed of developing tech- 

 nology, and that this technology was making the seabed and the ocean 

 floor accessible and exploitable for scientific, economic, military, and 

 other purposes. The Ad Hoc Committee was requested to prepare for 

 the twenty-third session of the General Assembly a study which would 

 include : 



(a) A survey of the past and present activities of the United 

 Nations, the specialized agencies, the International Atomic Energy 

 Agency and other intergovernmental bodies with regard to the 

 sea-bed and the ocean floor, and of existing international agree- 

 ments concerning these areas ; 



(b) An account of the scientific, technical, economic, legal, and 

 other aspects of this item ; 



(c) An indication regarding practical means of promoting in- 

 ternational co-operation in the exploration, conservation and use 

 of the sea-bed and the ocean floor, and the subsoil thereof, as con- 

 templated in the title of the item, and of their resources, having 

 regard to the views expressed and the suggestions put forward 

 by Member States during the consideration of this item at the 

 twenty-second session of the General Assembly. 



The Ad Hoc Committee was composed of 35 members and officers 

 were divided into two major groups to consider the requests of the 

 resolution. One was the Economic and Technical Working Group ; the 

 other the Legal Working Group. Numerous meetings were held during 

 1968 in three sessions ; it examined the scientific, economic, technical, 

 and legal aspects of the peaceful uses of the sea. 



In February 1968, the report Resources of the Sea, requested by the 

 Economic and Social Council's resolution 1112 (XL), was submitted 

 for consideration by the Ad Hoc Committee. 77 Part One of the report 

 dealt with the mineral resources of the sea beyond the continental 



77 "Resources of the Sea (Beyond the continental shelf)." Report of the Secretary Gen- 

 eral. (New York. United Nations. February 21, 1968.) (U.N. Economic and Social Council, 

 Document E/4449.) Part One: Mineral resources of the sea beyond the continental shelf, 

 E/4449 /Add. 1 ; Part Two : Food resources of the sea beyond the continental shelf ex- 

 cluding fish, E/4449/Add.2. 



Part One was prepared jointly by Frank Wang, marine geologist of the U.S. Geological 

 Survey, and the United Nations Secretariat. Part Two was prepared by C. B. Idyll of the 

 Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Miami, Florida. 



