panel pointed out that scientific exploration could be seriously 

 hampered by a premature definition of political jurisdiction. 



U. S. Positions at the United Nations 



On November 8, 1967, Ambassador Goldberg stated the 

 official position of the U. S. Instead of taking a strictly negative 

 position, he suggested positive alternatives to consideration of 

 the Malta proposal. Stressing the importance of comprehen- 

 sive and responsible study, he proposed a Committee of the 

 Oceans to serve the General Assembly in considering all pro- 

 posals and to make recommendations, promote long-term in- 

 ternational cooperation, and consider questions of law on ex- 

 ploration, arms control, and pollution. 



U. S. S. R. Position 



The Soviet Union proposed that the Intergovernmental 

 Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO undertake the 

 writing of legal conventions for scientific research and for 

 resource exploitation. The U. S., however, opposed this with 

 the argument that the charter and nature of the Commission 

 were restricted to scientific research and that it would be unable 

 to properly consider the legal problems involved. It was finally 

 agreed that the IOC should establish a working group to study 

 the relationship between scientific research and the law of the 

 sea. 



Some U. S. State Department officials and Congressmen in- 

 terpreted certain Soviet statements at the U. N. as an indica- 

 tion of unwillingness to have the General Assembly become 

 involved, and of extreme reservation on the establishing of a 

 committee to investigate the problems. 



Views of Other Countries 



About four dozen nations participated in the U. N. debate 

 and views ranged from acceptance of the Malta proposal to 

 reluctance to support any U. N. involvement. Developing 

 countries were sensitive to a new manifestation of the "tech- 

 nology gap." There was no concensus on the major issues or 

 on comprehensive, long range approaches. It was decided that 

 the U. N. should consider the matter further and assume a 

 responsible role in future discussions. 



This section contains some of the formal responses to the 

 Malta proposal communicated to the Secretary-General by sev- 

 eral countries in early 1968. These positions may have been 

 modified or firmed by the subsequent deliberations of the Ad 

 Hoc Committee on the Sea-Bed to be discussed in the next 

 section, but this will provide some indication of the views re- 

 garding internationalization of the sea-bed. The order below 

 reflects the dates of the responses. 



6 



