Third United Nations Conference On The Law Of The Sea Resumed Tenth Session Geneva 3 August To 28 August 1981

This stronger alliance gave priority to negotiating an internationally acceptable treaty and safeguarding Canada's land-based nickel industry. A second coalition - officers from the Department of Finance, the Department of Industry, Trade, and Commerce, and the Ministry of State for Science and Technology - contended that the push for quantitive restrictions diverted attention from the more crucial areas of protection of technological and financial resources. Riddell-Dixon argues that the dominant coalition succeeded because of ministerial support, structural and functional advantages, and an effective choice of tactics. Consequently they were able to manage other domestic sources of foreign policy. Canada and the International Seabed addresses several debates central to Canadian foreign policy, including the relative importance of domestic determinants and international constraints, the nature of intra-governmental decision-making, the relationship between government decision-makers and interest groups, the role of provincial governments in foreign policy, and the role of international conferences in solving global problems.

International Law of the Sea and Marine Affairs

These commentaries are based almost entirely on the formal and informal documentation of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III, 1973-1982), coupled, where necessary, with the personal knowledge of editors, contributors, or reviewers, many of whom were principal negotiators or UN personnel who participated in the Conference.

Volume VI is the sixth substantive volume to be published in the series. It deals with the work of the First Committee at the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, namely the international seabed area. The volume thus embraces the deep seabed mining regime set out in Part XI of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea together with the 1994 Agreement on its implementation. Completion of this commentary was delayed first by the consultations and negotiations that commenced in 1990 and led to the 1994 Agreement and the entry into force of the Convention. It was further delayed until the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority approved the detailed mining regulations in 2000. Additional supplementary material can be found at UNCLOS 1982 Commentary: Supplementary Documents.