Transitional Environmental Working Group and Liability Regime

The protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty adopted in the year 1991 will come into force after ratification by all the 26 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. The principles for the protection and preservation of the Antarctic environment enshrined in the Protocol are strictly adhered to by all Antarctic countries even though the Protocol is yet to come into force. The Protocol envisages the constitution of a Committee on Environmental Protection. As a predecessor to this committee, in the XIX Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party Meeting held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 8 - 19 May,95, a Transitional Environmental Working Group (TWEG) had been constituted.

The XIX Antarctic Treaty consultative meeting also discussed the Annex on Liability Regime under the Protocol. The Third Draft on the Liability Regime was considered, and based on discussions, it was decided that a revised draft will be formulated and taken up in the meeting of the Legal Experts on Liability Regime in November, 1995.

A meeting of Legal Experts on the Liability Regime was held from 27th November to 30th November, 1995, in Brussels. The Fourth Draft of the Annex on Liability was considered and further refined during the discussions.

COMNAP / SCALOP Meetings

The Council of Managers on National Antarctic Programmes, based on the decision taken in the XIX ATCM meeting at Seoul, Korea, decided to organise two workshops, one in October, 1995, and the second in March, 1996, on 'Environmental Monitoring in Impacts from Research & Operations in Antarctica'. The objective of holding the Workshops is to develop environmental guidelines for implementation of the provisions of the Environmental Protocol on Antarctic Treaty, 1991. The Workshop held in Norway in October, 1995, addressed the issues relating to monitoring of environmental impacts from research and operations in Antarctica. In the COMNAP meeting held in Santiago from 30th July to 5th August, 1995, stress was laid on environmental monitoring in Antarctica and the necessity to adopt and enforce very strict and stringent guidelines for environmental protection and monitoring was highlighted by most of the European countries. There was an organised attempt to make scientific work in Antarctica more and more difficult for developing nations. However, the Consultative Parties from Asia and Latin America have been able to counter this pressure by maintaining that environmental monitoring should be cost effective and should not deter genuine scientific research in Antarctica.

Convention on Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR )

The Convention on Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources was adopted on the year 1980, came into force in the year 1982. The Convention established a Commission whose functions include adoption of all conservation measures related to harvesting of living resources in the Antarctic area. The most important living resource is krill. During the CCAMLR meeting held during 22nd Oct. to 3rd Nov., 1995, held at Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Indian deligate discussed about the Indian first exploratory Krill expedition proposed in December,95. The Commission of the Convention was subsequently notified of details of India's krill expedition to Antarctica.