ENB:07:28
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THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY
PLENARY: The Plenary will not meet today and there will not be any formally scheduled sessions. The Chair announced on Friday that Plenary will not reconvene until Wednesday morning, when he hopes to resume formal consultations on his revised text. Nandan's objective is to produce a composite revised negotiating text that delegates can take home at the end of this week. Look for copies of the draft revised text, on a section-by-section basis, to enter into circulation. The Credentials Committee, chaired by Argentina, meets today and will report back to the Conference towards the end of this week.
INFORMAL-INFORMALS: The Chair resumes his informal consultations behind closed-doors with delegates in Conference Room 6 at 9:30 am this morning. These informal consultations are expected to continue for two full working days, and will enable Nandan to propose some of the revisions to his negotiating text in private. These closed-session consultations suggest that there are many sensitive issues yet to be resolved. It is expected that all NGOs and other observers will be excluded from these meetings.
IN THE CORRIDORS: Even though Nandan's original programme of work has deviated from the course, delegates appear pleased with the progress of the Conference thus far. Comments in the corridors, however, indicate a preference to extend the current mandate given by the General Assembly for one additional year, until 1995. The background reasoning for this is, as yet, unclear. It is believed to be quite separate from the Swedish proposal (A/CONF.164/L.39) that, among other matters, seeks to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop a Convention. An extension of this Conference might provide a soft law framework to include other marine environmental issues affecting the high seas, as outlined in Chapter 17 of Agenda 21.