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beyond a clearly defined national jurisdiction is the only alternative by whicli' 

 we can hope to avoid the escalating tensions that will be inevitable if the present 

 situation is allowed to continue. It is the only alternative by which we can hope 

 to escape the immense hazards of a permanent impairment of tlie marine environ- 

 ment. It is, finally, the only alternative that gives assurance that the immense 

 resources on and under the ocean floor will be exploited with harm to none and 

 benefit to all. 



Finally, a properly established international regime contains all the necessary 

 elements which should make it acceptable to all of us here : rich and poor coun- 

 tries, strong and weak, coastal and landlocked States. Through an international 

 regime all can receive assurance that at least the deep sea floor will be used 

 exclusively for peaceful purposes and that there will be orderly exploitation 

 oi^ \t^ rpsourcGS 



You will note, however, that all proposals put forward up to now for an 

 international regime have avoided facing the defence aspects of the question 

 before us. Those aspects, in our opinion, are crucial for an enduring international 

 solution of the problem. Appropriation for national purposes of the sea-bed and 

 the ocean floor beyond the geophysical continental shelf has already started. My 

 Government believes that the international community has no alternative in 

 these circumstances but to aim consciously and with a sense of urgency towards 

 the creation of an international regime, beyond, I repeat, reasonably defined 

 national jurisdiction. In creating such a regime, we must face squarely the vital 

 issues of legitimate national security together with the economic, scientific and 

 other implications. 



Our general objective must be to create conditions in the marine environment 

 that will be of benefit to all countries. We do not believe that it would be wise 

 to make the United Nations itself responsible for administering an international 

 regime. We say this not because we have an objections of principle, but for 

 practical reasons. 



I shall not take your time to list them here. I would only observe that it is 

 hardly likely that those countries that have already developed a technical capa- 

 bility to exploit the ocean floor, would agree to an international regime if it 

 were administered by a body where small countries, such as mine, had the same 

 voting power as the United States or the Soviet Union. 



Hence, our long-term objective is the creation of a special agency with adequate 

 powers to administer in the interests of mankind the oceans and the ocean floor 

 beyond national jurisdiction. We envisage such an agency as assuming jurisdic- 

 tion, not as a sovereign, but as a trustee for all countries over the oceans and 

 the ocean floor. The agency should be endowed with wide powers to regulate, 

 supervise and control all activities on or under the oceans and the ocean floor. 

 It would be premature for me to elaborate on the provisions which could be 

 incorporated in the charter of the suggested agency to ensure that the ocean 

 floor be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. Perhaps, it will suflSce at this 

 stage to assure you that we have examined the question carefully and my Gov- 

 ernment is satisfied that it is feasible to give credible assurance to all countries 

 that through the agency the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction will in fact 

 be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. 



In our view the agency should have the power affectively to regulate the 

 commercial exploitation of the ocean floor. We would envisage exploration rights 

 and leases being granted in respect of mineral, petroleum and other resources 

 lying in the area within its jurisdiction. We have made some hasty calculations 

 on the amount of revenue which the agency could be expected to receive from 

 such activities. On the assumption that an agency would be created in the year 

 1970, that technology will continue to advance, that exploitation will be com- 

 mensurate with the presently known resources of the ocean floor, that explora- 

 tion rights and leases will be granted at rates comparable to those existing at 

 present under national jurisdiction and that the continental shelf under national 

 jurisdiction will be defined approximately at the 200 metres isobath or at twelve 

 miles from the nearest coast, we believe that by 1975, that is, flve years after 

 an agency is e.stablished, gross annual income will reach a level which we con- 

 servatively estimate at around ?6 million. After deducting administration ex- 

 penses and all other legitimate expenses including support to oceanographic 

 research, the agency would, in our view, still be left with at least $5 billion to 

 be used to further either directly or through the United Nations Development 

 Programme the development of poor countries. The sum which I have men- 

 tioned is a conservative estimate. I would recall, in this respect, that the United 

 States Government alone has received only from petroleum leases on its con- 



