Background
The Draft regulations on exploitation of mineral resources in the Area (ISBA/25/C/WP.1) require that certain issues are addressed in accordance with, or taking into account, standards and guidelines to be developed by the organs of the ISA. The standards will be legally binding on Contractors and ISA, whereas the guidelines will be recommendatory in nature.
During the twenty-fifth session of the ISA, the Council requested that the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) undertake work on standards and guidelines as a matter of priority, noting the proposed process and schedule for the development of standards and guidelines contained in ISBA/25/C/19/Add.1, Annex and Enclosures I and II. The LTC recommended a three-phase approach, as follows:
- Phase 1: standards and guidelines deemed necessary to be in place by the time of adoption of the draft regulations on exploitation.
- Phase 2: standards and guidelines deemed necessary to be in place prior to the receipt of an application of a plan of work for exploitation.
- Phase 3: standards and guidelines deemed necessary to be in place before commercial mining activities commence in the Area
The process recommended by the LTC for the development of these standards and guidelines includes the circulation of the drafts for stakeholder consultations.
At the twenty-sixth session, having advanced its consideration of a number of standards and guidelines under Phase 1, the LTC developed and decided to put forward the draft standards and guidelines listed below for stakeholder consultations. Other draft standards and guidelines will be made available for consultations on this page in due course.
List of documents currently available for consultations
Please note that these documents are unedited drafts provided for the purposes of review and not for citation or other uses.
- Draft guideline on the preparation and assessment of an application for the approval of a Plan of Work for exploitation (http://bit.ly/sg-pow) and review template (http://bit.ly/temp-sg-rev)
The consultations on this draft are now closed.
- Draft standard and guidelines on the development and application of environmental management systems (http://bit.ly/ems-sgfin) and review template (http://bit.ly/temp-sg-rev)
The consultations on this draft are now closed.
- Draft standard and guidelines on the form and calculation of an environmental performance guarantee (http://bit.ly/sg-epg) and review template (http://bit.ly/temp-sg-rev)
The consultations on this draft are now closed.
General Instructions for submissions
- ISA’s Member States, observers and other stakeholders may submit written comments in either .doc or .docx format using the review template (http://bit.ly/temp-sg-rev).
- All comments must be submitted in English or be accompanied by a courtesy English translation.
- Comments must be submitted to the secretariat at ola@isa.org.jm no later than the prescribed deadline for each draft standard or guideline.
- Submissions received will be posted on the ISA website, unless otherwise requested by the submitting entity.
- Specific review instructions are included in the review template (http://bit.ly/temp-sg-rev).
Stakeholders comments received through the consultations
The comments received from member States and stakeholders are available here NEW!
For enquiries, please contact: Mr Nathan Eastwood, Legal Officer, Office of Legal Affairs, International Seabed Authority (neastwood@isa.org.jm)