the Federal Republic of Germany (July 1983) ; Washington, D.C. 

 (January 1984) ; Japan (May 1984) ; Brazil (February 1985) ; 

 France (September 1985) ; Australia (April 1986) ; and Japan 

 (October/November 1986) . Marine Mammal Commission repre- 

 sentatives have helped prepare for these sessions and have 

 been members of the U.S. negotiating delegations. 



The negotiations initially involved only the Antarctic 

 Treaty Consultative Parties, which presently include 

 Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, the 

 Federal Republic of Germany, France, India, Japan, New 

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

 United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the United States. Beginning 

 with the meeting in Rio de Janeiro in February 1985, the 

 negotiations have been open to observers from states acceding 

 to the Antarctic Treaty. As of 1 January 1987, these were: 

 Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, German 

 Democratic Republic, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Papua 

 New Guinea, Peru, Romania, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. 



The next round of negotiations is scheduled to be held 

 in Uruguay in May 1987. If differences of view concerning a 

 number of key issues can be resolved at that session, a 

 diplomatic conference could be held in New Zealand in late 

 1987 or early 1988 to conclude the regime. 



The Marine Mammal Commission believes that an effective 

 regime for regulating and monitoring possible mineral 

 resource activities offers the greatest potential for 

 insuring that any such activities are not to the disadvantage 

 of whales, seals, and other components of the Antarctic 

 marine ecosystem. The Commission has provided and will 

 continue to provide advice and assistance to the Department 

 of State to insure, insofar as possible, that the regime is 

 ecologically sound and provides adequate and effective means 

 for protecting marine mammals and their habitat in the 

 Southern Ocean. 



The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research 



The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) 

 was established in 1958 to foster international cooperation 

 and coordinate scientific programs in the Antarctic. It is 

 one of the Scientific Committees which form the International 

 Council of Scientific Unions, a body to which the National 

 Academy of Sciences is the U.S. adhering organization. The 

 Academy's Polar Research Board functions as the U.S. National 

 Committee for SCAR. SCAR serves as an unofficial scientific 

 advisory body to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, 

 who have increasingly called upon SCAR for scientific and 

 technical advice concerning conservation and other issues. 



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