pated in the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY) 

 research program in the Antarctic and the subsequent negotiation 

 of the Antarctic Treaty, and countries that since established 

 and maintained research programs in the Antarctic — meet 

 periodically to review and facilitate operation of the Treaty. 

 Since the 12th Consultative Meeting held in Canberra, Australia, 

 in September 1983, contracting parties which do not carry out 

 research programs necessary to achieve consultative status 

 have been invited to attend the regular Consultative Meetings 

 and the special meeting (see below) charged with developing a 

 regime to govern possible mineral exploration and development 

 in the Antarctic. 



The 14th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting was held 

 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5-16 October 1987. Represen- 

 tatives of the 20 Consultative Parties 1 and most of the 17 

 non-Consultative Parties 2 attended the meeting. In addition, 

 representatives of several international organizations — the 

 Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the Commission on 

 the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the 

 World Meteorological Organization, and the International Union 

 for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources — were 

 invited and attended the meeting. Environmental issues con- 

 sidered by the 14th Consultative Meeting included environ- 

 mental impact assessment procedures, waste disposal, protected 

 areas, data management, and safeguards for scientific drilling. 



Environmental Impact Assessment ; Scientific research 

 and related logistic support activities, like fisheries and 

 mineral exploration and development, can have adverse effects 

 on the Antarctic environment. In recognition of this fact, 

 the 12th Consultative Meeting, 13-27 September 1983, adopted 

 general guidelines and requested that the Scientific Committee 

 on Antarctic Research (SCAR) , described below, provide advice 

 on procedures that should be used to evaluate the possible 

 environmental impacts of scientific and logistic support activi- 

 ties in Antarctica. The subsequent SCAR report — "Man's 



1 As of 31 December 1987, the Consultative Parties were: 

 Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, the People's 

 Republic of China, France, the German Democratic Republic, 

 the Federal Republic of Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New 

 Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, the Union of Soviet 

 Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom, the United States, 

 and Uruguay. 



2 As of 31 December 1987, the non-Consultative Parties 

 were: Austria, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, 

 Ecuador, Finland, Greece, Hungary, the Democratic People's 

 Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, The Netherlands, 

 Papua New Guinea, Peru, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. 



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