Eighteen (18th) Session of the International Seabed Authority

The Eighteen Session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) met at the seat of the Authority in Kingston, Jamaica from 16-27 July 2012. The first week was dedicated to meetings of the Council of the ISA and the Legal and Technical Committee followed by meetings of the Assembly during the second week.

For the purpose of this report, it will generally concentrate on the second week of the Authority’s meetings as the author of this report arrived to attend the second week which was dedicated to the meetings of ISA Assembly; the Federated States of Micronesia is neither a member of the Council nor the Legal and Technical Committee. However, the author did sit in a few meetings of the Council held during the second week as an observer. The report thus also reflects a number of items that were discussed in the Council.

Procedural Meeting

The Assembly opened its first meeting to elect its President and the Bureau. The Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the United Nations was elected with acclamation to replace the outgoing President of the seventeen session of the Assembly, the Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations.

Thirty Years Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982-2012)

The Tuesday preceding the opening of the Assembly, the whole day was dedicated to the commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the signing of the United Nations on the