and terrestrial ecosystems. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative 

 Parties have recognized this possibility and, at the Xlth 

 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 

 23 June-7 July 1981) , agreed that an international agreement 

 should be elaborated to provide means for: (1) assessing the 

 possible impact of mineral resource activities on the Antarctic 

 environment in order to provide for informed decision-making; 

 (2) determining the acceptability of possible mineral resource 

 activities; and (3) governing those activities determined to be 

 acceptable. 



Negotiation of the agreement was begun in June 1982 and, 

 following ten subsequent negotiating sessions, was concluded at a 

 session held in Wellington, New Zealand, in June 1988. The 

 agreement — the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic 

 Mineral Resource Activities — provides, among other things, that 

 no mineral resource activities shall take place in the Antarctic 

 unless available information is adequate to conclude that the 

 activities would not have significant adverse effects on 

 wildlife, the Antarctic environment, or the special scientific, 

 historic, aesthetic, and wilderness values of the Antarctic. It 

 provides for the establishment of a Commission to oversee its 

 implementation, regulatory committees to govern mineral resource 

 activities judged to be acceptable, and a Scientific, Technical, 

 and Environmental Advisory Committee to provide advice to the 

 Commission and regulatory committees. 



Before the Convention can enter into force, a liability 

 protocol must be negotiated and the Convention must be ratified, 

 accepted, or otherwise approved by 16 of the 22 Antarctic Treaty 

 Consultative Parties that existed at the time the Convention was 

 opened for signature on 25 November 1988. Further, the 

 Convention cannot enter into force unless ratified by all of the 

 countries that maintain claims, or the basis of claims, to 

 territory in Antarctica — i.e. , Argentina, Australia, Chile, 

 France, New Zealand, Norway, the Soviet Union, the United 

 Kingdom, and the United States. 



When the Convention was concluded in June 1988, the nations 

 involved in the negotiations agreed to refrain from mineral 

 exploration and development in the Antarctic pending entry into 

 force of the Convention. As noted earlier, the Government of 

 Australia indicated in May 1989 that it would not sign the 

 Convention. If Australia, any other claimant state, the United 

 States, or the Soviet Union fails to ratify the Convention, it 

 will not enter into force. This does not mean, however, that 

 mineral resource activities necessarily would be prohibited. 



The Bahia Paraiso Oil Spill 



On 28 January 1989, the Bahia Paraiso , an Argentine Navy 

 ship carrying tourists and supplies for Argentine Antarctic 



108 



