56 



There was a general desire among developing countries to 

 schedule a long resumed session of six weeks this summer to 

 complete the negotiations. This reflected in part a genuine 

 frustration by developing countries with the length of time 

 that these negotiations have taken, and in part tactical con- 

 siderations related to the United States review. 



The United States indicated that since it was doubtful 

 that final decisions could be taken in the review before August, 

 it would be preferable to hold a session next year. In acceding 

 to the general desire to hold a session in August, the United 

 States made clear that it viewed such a session as an oppor- 

 tunity for informal consultations rather than definitive nego- 

 tiation on texts, and that it did not expect to complete its 

 review until after the August session. 



The resultant compromises on the timing of the next 

 session reflect a general, but not explicit, acceptance of 

 the desirability of avoiding confrontation on the issues at 

 this point. Thus, while the four week session can be extended 

 to five weeks, the decision on whether to extend it will be 

 taken by consensus if at all possible. While the Drafting 

 Committee will work for five weeks prior to the session, it 

 will not turn to deep seabed mining texts until the last two 

 weeks. 



COMMITTEE ONE 



The First Committee held two formal meetings and four 

 informal meetings before shifting to an informal WG-21 format. 

 Events in the First Committee at this session were signifi- 

 cantly affected by U.S. positions announced before the Con- 

 ference. While discussion of the Preparatory Commission 

 resolution continued, no serious negotiations were conducted. 

 The Group of 77 itself precluded any work on preparatory 

 investment protection so long as the United States was unable 

 to commit itself to the package. 



First Committee Chairman Paul Engo held private consulta- 

 tions with the EEC countries, Zambia, Zaire, Zimbabwe, and 

 Canada, on the production limitation. The consultations were 

 based on papers prepared by Zaire, Zimbabwe, and Zaimbia 

 attaching the Secretariat's report (see below). No changes 

 occurred in the text as a result. U.S. participation in all 

 work was minimal and was expressly qualified by our position 

 regarding review of the convention. 



Secretarial Reports 



The Secretary-General's representative for Law of the Sea 

 presented two reports to the conference in the First Committee. 



