resource exploration and development activities.

Rather, it states the principles and criteria, upon which decisions about mineral resource activities must be based; and provides for the institutions (including their composition, functions and decision-making procedures) for administering and overseeing this process.

In

The Convention also sets forth stringent substantive principles of strict liability applicable to any mineral resource activities that might be determined acceptable. addition, it calls for the negotiation of a separate protocol on liability to elaborate these principles and the mechanisms necessary to assess and adjudicate claims of damage, including environmental damage, and to ensure prompt and adequate compensation for any such damage. The liability protocol is to be negotiated by consensus and to enter into force on the same basis as the Antarctic Minerals Convention itself.

No

exploration or development activities under the Convention could be considered until the liability protocol is in force.

We are well aware of the difficulties that have been raised with the Convention, both domestically and internationally. We are prepared to consider means of addressing these concerns. Equally, however, we are committed to avoiding a situation in which there is no internationally agreed system for dealing with interest in Antarctic mineral resource activities should interest in such activities ever

materialize.

For this reason, we do not support provisions,

such as are contained in H.R. 4514, that seek to prohibit

activities by U.S. citizens that do not take account of the

international process necessary to resolve issues relating to Antarctic mineral resources.

Upcoming International Negotiations

H.R. 4514 would direct the Secretary of State to carry out international negotiations to seek agreement on establishing Antarctica as a world park. This provision would unduly interfere with the President's, constitutional authority for the conduct of foreign relations. In addition, it would undercut ongoing efforts by the United States and the other ATCPS to ensure comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment.

At the Fifteenth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XV) in Paris, October 9-20, 1989. Two consensus recommendations were adopted on the subject of comprehensive environmental protection measures. The first calls for the "further elaboration, maintenance and effective implementation of a comprehensive system for the protection of the Antarctic environment" and for a special meeting in 1990 to contribute to this objective. The second calls for a meeting, also in 1990, to initiate work in relation to the liability protocol called for in the Antarctic Minerals Convention. In each case, the

Chile offered to host both meetings and has issued an

invitation to convene them in Santiago in November.

In our view, the consensus achieved on the recommendations dealing with comprehensive measures augurs well for future progress. In discussions subsequent to the Paris meeting we have found growing support among other Parties for negotiating a protocol to the Antarctic Treaty that would ensure greater environmental protection for the continent. An approach of this sort, building upon the existing components of the Antarctic Treaty system, should lead to a successful result at the November meetings in Santiago.

The principal United States objectives for the Santiago meetings will be to develop a comprehensive system for protection of the Antarctic environment building upon the legal and institutional foundation offered by the Antarctic Treaty and the Antarctic Treaty system and to launch consideration of the liability protocol.

The U.S. will seek agreement in Santiago not only to update and extend the body of measures governing activities in Antarctica but also to develop a more coherent and enforceable framework for implementing the agreed measures pursuant to the Treaty.

Specifically, this approach includes negotiation by the Parties to the Antarctic Treaty of a protocol to the Antarctic Treaty system, designed to extend and improve its effectiveness as a mechanism for ensuring the protection of the Antarctic

environment, and including:

a) basic principles for the protection of the Antarctic environment;

b)

provision for inclusion of detailed, mandatory rules for environmental protection in annexes to the protocol that could be updated rapidly;

c)

infrastructure to support effective operation of the Antarctic Treaty's consultative mechanism, including a secretariat and expert advisory body; and

d) compulsory dispute settlement procedures relating to the environmental protection rules.

We will also seek in Santiago initiation of the program of work called for at the last ATCM in Paris to review the

existing body of measures for the protection of the Antarctic environment, in order, inter alia, to:

a)

identify those measures which should be updated, strengthened or otherwise improved;

b) ensure that the legal obligation to implement and ensure compliance with such measures is clearly stated;

c)

identify the need for additional measures;

d) provide for those measures to be legally binding;

e)

institutionalize this process as a coherent and

In closing, I must reiterate the Administration's

opposition to enactment of H.R. 4514. I would also emphasize that the United States has and will continue to take the lead in working toward a comprehensive agreement to protect the Antarctic environment. We must ensure effective compliance

with the body of environmental protection measures already elaborated within the Antarctic Treaty system and we must develop and extend the innovative and anticipatory system of environmental protection it has created. We hope to work with the Congress to ensure that the United States retains the leadership in Antarctic Treaty affairs that it has in the conduct of scientific research in this continent.