Other crucial, outstanding issues include the composition, voting pro- 

 cedures, powers, and functions of the organs of ISRA. In summarizing 

 the results of Committee I, it may be noted that although little progress 

 was made in bridging the ideological gap between the developed and the 

 developing nations, nevertheless greater understanding was achieved on 

 the relative needs and interests of states that must be accommodated in 

 the structure and powers of the ISRA. 



From the start, the United States has held that effective provisions for 

 compulsory settlement of disputes arising from the interpretation and 

 application of a law of the sea treaty are an essential part of any negoti- 

 ated package. During the Geneva session, an informal group of about 60 

 countries developed a text on dispute settlement procedures. While the 

 text proceeds on the principle that there will be some binding dispute 

 settlement procedures, there is no agreement yet as to what the scope of 

 binding dispute settlement will be in the economic zone. 



The U.N. General Assembly has approved convening the next session 

 of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in New 

 York, for 7 weeks commencing March 15, 1976, and convening an addi- 

 tional session in 1976 if such a decision is taken by the conference. Since 

 the close of the Geneva session, the U.S. delegation has engaged in ex- 

 tensive bilateral and multilateral negotiations with many of the partici- 

 pants to the conference. The United States is going to New York fully 

 committed and prepared to expend every reasonable effort to reach a 

 satisfactory accommodation to protect its interests and the interests of 

 the international community. 



Marine Pollution 



The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has become in- 

 creasingly active in the past year in the field of marine pollution. The 

 most significant indicator of this activity was the convening of a con- 

 ference of Mediterranean states, under UNEP auspices, that resulted in 

 signing, in February 1976, of the Barcelona Convention for the Preven- 

 tion of Marine Pollution in the Mediterranean Area. 



The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping 

 of Wastes and Other Matter at Sea, signed in London in November 1972 

 and ratified by the United States in 1974, came into force in August 1975. 

 The first organizational meeting of the contracting parties was held in 

 London in December 1975. At this meeting, the parties designated the In- 

 ter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) as the 

 organization to function as the secretariat for the convention and set the 

 date for the first consultive meeting of the contracting parties for Sep- 

 tember 1976. 



IMCO has continued its efforts to reduce world maritime pollution 

 through the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) which, 



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