HI 



framework. The U.N. Ad Hoc Committee to 

 Study the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and 

 tlie Ocean Floor Beyond the .Limits of Na- 

 tional Jurisdiction has reported to the 

 twenty -third (1968) Session of the U.N. Gen- 

 eral Assembly. It should be recalled, too, that 

 Article 13 of the Convention on the Con- 

 tinental Shelf permits any nation adhering 

 to it to request its revision at any time after 

 June 10, 1969. The U.N. General Assembly 

 must then decide what to do about the 

 request. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 United States seize the opportunity for 

 leadership which the present situation de- 

 mands and propose a new international 

 legal-political framework for exploration 

 and exploitation of the mineral resources 

 underlying the deep seas, that is, the high 

 seas beyond the outer limits of the con- 

 tinental shelf as redefined in accordance 

 with the Commission's recommendations. 



The Commission recognizes that any pro- 

 posed changes in the existing international 

 framework will be subject to international 

 negotiations, and this makes it hazardous to 

 venture specific proposals. Nevertheless, we 

 do so. Our particular recommendations may 

 not sui-\ive the process of negotiation nor 

 perhaps even the test of debate, but only by 

 being specific is it possible to subject to criti- 

 cal examination the kind of framework we 

 have concluded the present situation requires. 



We also should like to stress that our major 

 recommendations are interrelated. Rejection 

 of any one of tliese recommendations would 

 raise serious questions in the minds of the 

 Commission as to the advisability of continu- 

 ing with the others. 



The Commission has considered and re- 

 jected a number of alternatives that have been 



suggested to govern mineral resources ex- 

 ploration and exploitation beyond the conti- 

 nental shelf. These include proposals to grant 

 sovereign rights over any area to the nation 

 which is the first to discover and exploit its 

 mineral resources and to give title to tJie 

 mineral resources beyond the continental 

 shelf to the Ignited Nations in the name of the 

 international community. These alternatives, 

 which are considered in detail in the Report 

 of the Commission's International Panel, 

 were rejected because no one of them attains 

 the objectives that must be accomplished in 

 the immediate future. 



Nevertheless, the following recommended 

 framework incorporates particular elements 

 of some of these alternatives and others which 

 have not hitherto been pi'oposed. 



The Commission recommends that new 

 international agreements be negotiated 

 embodying the following provisions: 



• An International Registry Authority 



• An International Fund 



• Certain powers and duties of register- 

 ing nations 



• Limited policing functions for Registry 

 Authority 



• Dispute settlement provisions 



• Creation of an intermediate zone. 



The several elements of this recommenda- 

 tion are discussed in the pages that follow. 



An International Authority To Register 

 National Claims Beyond the Redefined 

 Continental Shelf 



All claims to explore or exploit particular 

 mineral resources in particular areas of the 

 deep seas should be registered with an In- 

 ternational Registry Authority. Every na- 

 tion adhering to the agreements should 

 undertake not to engage in, or authorize, ex- 



