subsoil. However, the panel again emphasizes, if 

 the claim pertains to an area within some coastal 

 State's "intermediate zone," only that coastal 

 State shall be authorized to register it. Further- 

 more, the coastal State may decide not to register 

 any claim for mineral resources exploration or 

 exploitation within its intermediate zone. No 

 other State— or its nationals— may then enter the 

 intermediate zone for this purpose. In this respect, 

 the coastal State will have the same exclusive 

 authority in the intermediate zone that it has on 

 its continental shelf. 



(d) Registration of a claim to explore for 

 particular mineral resources, e.g., to conduct geo- 

 logical and geophysical operations in the search for 

 oil and gas, in a particular area of the deep seas 

 shall confer upon the State Registrant the 

 exclusive right to engage in, or authorize, such 

 exploration. However, this right shall be subject to 

 maximum area limitations and requirements as to 

 the minimum time within which the resource must 

 be proved. These limitations and requirements shall 

 be fixed by the Registry Authority in accordance 

 with specified standards economically suitable to 

 such exploration. Failure to comply with these 

 conditions, which will also serve to eliminate 

 claim-registration for the purpose of "sitting on" 

 rights, shall subject the registration to revocation. 



(e) Upon proof of discovery, the Registry 

 Authority shall convert the registered claim to 

 exploration into a registered claim to exploitation. 



(f) Registration of a claim to exploit particular 

 mineral resources in a particular area of the deep 

 seas shall confer upon the State Registrant (/) the 

 exclusive right to engage in, or authorize, such 

 exploitation for a limited number of years; and 

 consequently (h) internationally-recognized title, 

 or the right to confer such title, to the extracted 

 mineral resources. States which are parties to the 

 agreements embodying the new framework shall 

 undertake to enact implementing national legisla- 

 tion protecting such titles. 



The term of years for which the State Regis- 

 trant shall have exclusive access to the mineral 

 resources of the area covered by the registered 

 claim, as well as the size of the area, shall be fixed 

 by the Registry Authority. The area shall be large 

 enough, and the time long enough, to enable the 

 producer to operate economically and not waste- 

 fully and to recover his original investment as well 

 as an adequate return thereon. 



Each registered claim shall also be subject to 

 the requirements of actual exploitation within a 

 specified period of time and continued exploita- 

 tion thereafter, unless the Registry Authority 

 determines, on application of the State Registrant, 

 that world market conditions make it uneconomic 

 to do so, in which case the Authority may suspend 

 either requirement for the time being. Failure to 

 comply with these requirements shall subject the 

 registration to revocation. 



Registration of a claim in a coastal State's 

 intermediate zone shall be subject to these same 

 conditions. 



(g) In areas of the deep seas in which sub- 

 marine boundaries cannot presently be clearly 

 established, the Registry Authority shall avoid the 

 registration of contiguous claims. In any case, the 

 principle embodied in Article 5(2) and (3) of the 

 Convention on the Continental Shelf should be 

 adopted to empower the Registry Authority to 

 establish safety zones of 500 meters around the 

 installations and other devices constructed and 

 maintained or operated for exploration or exploi- 

 tation pursuant to a registered claim. Ships of all 

 nationalities shall be required to respect these 

 safety zones. 



(h) Registration of a claim to explore or 

 exploit particular mineral resources in a particular 

 area of the deep seas shall not preclude registration 

 of a subsequent claim involving other mineral 

 resources in the same area, if exploration or 

 exploitation pursuant to the subsequent claim is 

 compatible with exploration or exploitation under 

 the first registered claim. If it is not compatible, 

 the principle of "first come, first registered" 

 shall control and the subsequent claim shall not be 

 registered. 



(i) If, by chance, two or more claims to 

 explore for the same mineral resources in the same 

 area are sought to be registered simultaneously, a 

 more or less arbitrary choice will have to be made 

 by the Registry Authority. This choice can be 

 made by lot or any other method acceptable to 

 the competing applicants for registration. 



If practicable, the Registry Authority might 

 also seek to encourage the States seeking to 

 register the competing claims to engage in a joint 

 venture or to share the area in question in some 

 other way. 



(j) A State Registrant shall be authorized to 

 transfer the registered claim to any other State 



Vin-37 



