National Legislation Database

Database on National Legislation with Respect to
Activities in the Area

UNCLOS, Article 153(4) provides that the obligation of the sponsoring States under UNCLOS, Article 139 entails “taking all measures necessary to ensure” compliance by the sponsored contractor.

UNCLOS, Annex III, Article 4(4) makes it clear that such sponsoring States’ “responsibility to ensure” applies “within their legal systems,” and therefore requires the sponsoring States to adopt “laws and regulations” and to take “administrative measures which are, within the framework of its legal system, reasonably appropriate for securing compliance by persons under its jurisdiction.”

During the 17th session of ISA in 2011, the Council further invited sponsoring States and other members, as appropriate, to provide information on, or texts of, relevant national laws, regulations and administrative measures to the ISA Secretariat (ISBA/17/C/20, para. 3).

The present collection of laws, regulations and administrative measures concerning activities in the Area is based on submissions made by the Member States. Accordingly, the texts are reproduced in the form and the language(s) received from the Member States and were not formally edited and/or translated by ISA.

Disclaimer: Reference to the external websites below does not imply endorsement by the ISA Secretariat of their contents. Any views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the ISA Secretariat. The hyperlinks are provided solely for informational purposes.

NATIONAL LEGISLATION DATABASE

Bangladesh
Belgium

Information on National Legislation

  • Note Verbale dated 22 July 2013
  • 30 Juillet 2013  – Loi introduisant des dispositions qui régissent des matières visées à l’article 77 de la Constitution, dans la loi du 17 août 2013 relative à la prospection, l’exploration et l’exploitation de la jurisdiction nationale (1)
  • 17 août 2013  – Loi relative à la prospection, l’exploration et l’exploitation des ressources des fonds marins et leur sous-sol au-delà des limites de la jurisdiction nationale (1)
Benin
Brazil

Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of Brazil

China

Existing National Legislation

National Laws, Regulations and Administrative Measures adopted by China since 2017 with respect to activities in the Area  [CH] Note Verbale (18)-4 dated 26 April 2018

Text of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Exploration for and Exploitation of Resources in the Deep Seabed Area.  Adopted February 26, 2016 and effective as of May 1, 2016

Mineral Resources Law of the People’s Republic of China (Adopted at the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People’s Congress on 19 March 1986, and revised in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Revising the Mineral Resources Law of the People’s Republic of China, adopted at the 21st meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress on 29 August 1996).

Rules for Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law of the People’s Republic of China (Promulgated by Decree No. 152 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on 26 March 1994, and effective as of the date of promulgation). Chinese version

Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (Adopted at the twenty-fourth session of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People’s Congress on 23 August 1982; effective as of 1 March 1983, and revised at the thirteenth session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People’s Congress on 25 December 1999).

Administrative Regulation on the Prevention and Treatment of the Pollution and Damage to the Marine Environment by Marine Engineering Construction Projects – Chinese version [Chinese] (Promulgated by the State Council on 25 March 2010 and in force on the same day)

Cook Islands
Cuba
  • Cuba Mining Law, No: 76 dated 23 January 1995; and Decree No. 222 dated 19 September 1997
Czechia

Existing National Legislation

  • Prospecting, Exploration for and Exploitation of Mineral Resources from the Seabed beyond Limits of National Jurisdiction.Act No. 158/2000 of 18 May 2000.
Dominican Republic

Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales
Note No. 001348

Embajada de la Republica Dominicana Jamaica
Note No. EDR-MIN/16-16

Ecuador
Egypt
Federated States of Micronesia
Fiji
  • International Seabed Mineral Management Decree 2013
    Decree No. 21
France
  • Note Verbale from the Embassy of France in Jamaica
    FR | EN
  • Ordonnance no 2016-1687 du 8 décembre 2016 relative aux espaces maritimes relevant de la sourveraineté ou de la juridiction de la République française
    Ordinance N⁰ 2016-1687 of 8 December 2016 relating to the maritime areas under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Republic of France
    FR | EN
Georgia

Note Verbale dated 3 May 2017

Germany

Existing National Legislation

  • Germany. Act on Interim Regulation of Deep Seabed Mining 1980, dated 16 August 1980 (English translation) (1981) International Legal Materials, XX, p. 393.
  • Germany. Seabed Mining Act of 6 June 1995 (the Act). Amended by article 74 of the Act of 8 December 2010 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1864). |English | German
  • Federal Maritime Responsibilities Act of 26 July 2002 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 2876). Amended by article 4 of the Act of 2 June 2008 (Federal Law Gazette 2008 II, p. 520).
Guyana

ISBA/18/C/8

Laws, regulations and administrative measures adopted by sponsoring States and other members of the International Seabed Authority with respect to the activities in the Area. Report of the Secretary-General

Attachment:

AR  CH  EN  ES  FR  RU

India
Japan

Existing National Legislation

Kenya
Kiribati

Information on National Legislation

Mexico
  • Note Verbale from the Embassy of Mexico in Jamaica on 5 June 2018
  • Updated information by the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the Secretariat of Economy and the Mexican Geological Service. Received 5th June 2018
  • Report submitted by the Embassy of Mexico in Jamaica on 21 December 2011 on the Laws, Regulations and Administrative Measures of Mexico on Underwater Mining

Existing National Legislation

  • General Law on Ecological Balance and the Protection of the Environment (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente), Diario Oficial de la Federación, 28 January 1988. Reform and update of 4 June 2012.
  • Regulation of the General Law on Ecological Balance and the Protection of the Environment on Environmental Impact Assessment (Reglamento de la Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente en Materia de Evaluación del Impacto Ambiental), Diario Oficial de la Federación, 30 May 2000. Reform and update of 26 April 2012.
  • United Mexican States. Mining Law, Diario Oficial de la Federación, 26 June 1992. Amended 28 April 2005.
  • National environmental policy for the sustainable development of Mexico’s oceans and coasts: Strategies for their conservation and sustainable use. (See A/61/372, annex.)
Montenegro
  • Law of the Sea [ 18 December 2007 ]
  • Law on the ratification of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, 9 October 2007
  • Law on the confirmation of the Protocol on integrated coastal zone management in the Mediterranean, 17 November 2011
  • Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Structures [En]
Nauru
Netherlands
  • Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands  [26 June 2017]
New Zealand
Nigeria
Niue
Oman

Royal Decree No. 2011/8 issued 24 January 2011  regulating the exploration for oil and gas and Royal Decree No. 2003/27 and Ministerial Decress No. 2010/77 – Regulations of the Mining Act.

Pacific Island Region
Panama
Republic of Korea
  • Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Tonga

Existing National Legislation

Tuvalu

Existing National Legislation

United Kingdom

Existing National Legislation

United States of America

Existing National Legislation

Zambia

Existing National Legislation

Regional Efforts