As noted in previous Commission Reports, speculation 

 about possible mineral resources appears to have been a major 

 factor stimulating an initiative by Malaysia in 1983 and later 

 to involve the United Nations in Antarctic matters. The 

 "Question of Antarctica" was raised again during the 42nd 

 session of the United Nations General Assembly in December 

 1987. Two resolutions were adopted by vote. The first reso- 

 lution calls upon the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties 

 to invite the United Nations Secretary General to all meetings 

 of the Consultative Parties, including the special meeting 

 negotiating the minerals regime, and repeats the 1986 call 

 for a moratorium on the minerals negotiations until such time 

 as all members of the international community are able to 

 participate. The second resolution repeats an earlier appeal 

 to the Antarctic Treaty Parties to exclude the apartheid regime 

 of South Africa from participation in Consultative Party meet- 

 ings. As in 1986, the majority of the Antarctic Treaty Parties 

 did not participate in the vote on the first resolution. A 

 number of Parties did, however, participate in the vote on 

 the resolution regarding South Africa. 



The Marine Mammal Commission believes that the Antarctic 

 Treaty and the related agreements that form the Antarctic 

 Treaty system provide the basis for effectively protecting 

 and conserving marine mammals and their habitat in the Southern 

 Ocean. In 1988, the Commission will continue its efforts to 

 help implement the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention for the 

 Conservation of Antarctic Seals, and the Convention on the 

 Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and to 

 complete negotiation of an ecologically sound minerals regime. 



The International Whaling Commission (IWC) 



During 1987, representatives of the Marine Mammal Commis- 

 sion consulted with the U.S. Commissioner to the IWC and 

 others in preparation for the Thirty-ninth Annual Meeting of 

 the IWC and attended meetings of the IWC Scientific Committee. 

 In addition, the Commission consulted with the National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration, the State Department, and 

 others on other matters related to participation of the United 

 States in the IWC. A summary of the activities undertaken 

 during 1987 follows. 



The June 1987 Meeting of the IWC 



Membership and participation — Representatives of 33 of 

 the IWC's 41 member nations participated in the IWC's Thirty- 

 ninth Annual Meeting, held in Bournemouth, England, on 22-26 

 June 1987. 



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