Through a letter dated 25 June 2021, Nauru exercised its rights under Section 1(15)(a) of the 1994 Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of UNCLOS to request that the Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) complete the adoption of the rules, regulations and procedures necessary to facilitate the approval of plans of work for exploitation in the Area. Nauru informed the ISA that a Nauruan entity sponsored by Nauru intends to apply for approval of a plan of work for exploitation in the Area in two years.
According to Section 1(15)(b), following such a request “the Council shall, in accordance with article 162, paragraph 2(o), of the Convention, complete the adoption of such rules, regulations and procedures within two years of the request”. Furthermore, Section 1(15)(c) provides “If the Council has not completed the elaboration of the rules, regulations and procedures relating to exploitation within the prescribed time and an application for approval of a plan of work for exploitation is pending, it shall none the less consider and provisionally approve such plan of work based on the provisions of the Convention and any rules, regulations and procedures that the Council may have adopted provisionally, or on the basis of the norms contained in the Convention and the terms and principles contained in this Annex as well as the principle of non-discrimination among contractors”.
For more information see here.
De Maribus 