Ii9 



sure that claims are not registered solely for 

 the purpose of "sitting on"' rights derived 

 therefrom but actually will be worked. Fail- 

 ure to comply with these conditions should 

 subject the registration to revocation. 



A registering nation should be authorized 

 to transfer any registered claim to any other 

 nation which adheres to the agreements em- 

 bodying the new framework. 



No unregistered claim should be entitled 

 to any of the benefits derived from registra- 

 tion, and in any conflict between a registered 

 claim and an uiu-egistered claim, the former 

 should prevail. 



These provisions should furnish all na- 

 tions with incentives to adhere to the recom- 

 mended agreements and to register claims 

 with the International Registry Authority. 



Upon expiration of the period of registra- 

 tion of a claim to explore or to exploit, fur- 

 ther exploration or exploitation of the re- 

 sources covered by the claim should be 

 subject to whatever, international legal-poli- 

 tical framework is in effect at that time. The 

 nation which registered the expired claim 

 should not acquire, by virtue thereof, a vested 

 right to continue to explore or exploit the 

 particular resources covered by that claim, or 

 even a preference over any other nation with 

 respect to such exploration or exploitation. 



The membership of the International Reg- 

 istry Authority and the manner of choosing 

 its goveri^ing body sliould be specified in the 

 agreements embotlying the new framework. 

 The Authority should find its place in the 

 family of the Ignited Nations but should be 

 as autonomous as the World Bank. We pro- 

 pose tliat it be organized on a "multiple prin- 

 ciple" representation, based on the technologi- 

 cal capacity of its meml)ers as well as on tlieir 

 geographic distribution. 



To cover the costs of the International 

 Registry Authority, every nation should be 



required to pay to the Authority a fee for 

 each claim to explore which it registers and 

 an additional fee if and when that claim is 

 converted into a claim to exploit. The Au- 

 thority should be empowered to fix the fees. 



An International Fund 



Every nation registering a claim to exploit 

 shoidd be required to pay a portion of the 

 value of the production, if any, into an In- 

 ternational Fund to be expended for such 

 purposes as financing marine scientific 

 activity and resources exploration and de- 

 velopment, particularly food-from-the-sea 

 programs, and aiding the developing coun- 

 tries tluough the World Bank I".N. Develop- 

 ment Program and other international de- 

 velopment agencies. The proceeds from 

 these payments should not be expended for 

 general purposes of the United Nations. 



The International Registry Authority 

 should receive the payments from the reg- 

 istering nations and turn the proceeds over 

 to the International Fund but should have 

 nothing to do with the Fund's management. 



The membership of tlie International 

 Fund and the manner of chosing its govern- 

 ing body should be determined by the U.N. 

 (reneral Assembly. 



The Commission's proposals for an Inter- 

 national Fund do not constitute just another 

 way foi- the rich nations to aid the poor na- 

 tions. They are intended to compensate the 

 common owners of the mineral resources of 

 the deep seas by using the "economic rent" 

 for purposes that the international com- 

 munity agrees will jjromote the common 

 welfare. 



However, the Commission must caution 

 against any optimistic assumption that the 

 sums at the disposal of the International 

 Fund will be so huge as to make it unneces- 

 sary in the coming decades for rich nations 

 to aid tlie development of poor nations in any 



