78 



UNITED NATIONS 



Distr. 



LIMITED 



THIRD CONFERENCE a/cobf.6 2 /l.ti 



IT April 1981 



ON THE LAW OF THE SEA 



ORIGINAL: ENGLISH 



Tenth session 



New York , 9 March to 2k April 1981 



REPOBT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE 



1. I have the honour to report briefly to the Conference on the work of the Third 

 Committee at the current session. It may he recalled at the outset that in my last 

 report to the plenary (A/CONF.62/L.61 of 25 August 1980) that the substantive 

 negotiations on part XII (Protection and preservation of the marine environment), 

 part XIII (Marine scientific research), and part XIV (Development and transfer of 

 marine technology) were completed. The results of these negotiations are reflected 

 in the Informal Tuxt of the draft Convention on the Law of the Sea 

 (A/C0!1F.62/V.T'.10/Jiev.3). It was also stated that the Third Committee had attained 

 a level of agreement which could offer a substantially improved prospect for 

 consensus. This assessment, which has emerged from the Third Committee's 

 deliberations, was subsequently confirmed by the Conference itself at the end of 

 the resumed ninth session. 



2. At this session, an informal meeting of the Third Committee was held on 



25 March 1981 in order to ascertain whether there were still any issues which could 

 be discussed by the Committee. 



3. I am now pleased to inform the Conference that the Third Committee reiterated 

 its previous conclusion, namely, that the substantive negotiations had been 

 completed. It was agreed that tne draft Convention on the Law of the Sea with 

 respect to parts XII, XIII and XIV constitute a compromise based on a sound balance 

 which should not be upset by reopening issues which had already been extensively 

 negotiated. 



k. It was also agreed that if and when called upon by the Conference the Third 

 Committee should be available to consider any issue within its terms of reference. 



5. I wish to take this opportunity and place on record my appreciation of the . 

 excellent work done by the Drafting Committee, its language groups and Mie 

 co-ordinators . On this occasion, I wish to extend my congratulations to the 

 Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Mr. Beesley. The recommendations advanced by 

 the Drafting Committee did not affect the substance of the text and altogether they 

 constitute a distinct improvement from a drafting point of view. 



8I-IOU65 



