A Discussion On Revenue Sharing Regime In Mining Code In The Area

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea gives the Authority the power to organize and control activities within the Region on behalf of mankind,and in particular to manage "Area" resources.The type of "resources”originally prescribed only includes mineral resources.With the development of science and technology,two other resources in the Area,marine genetic resources and environmental resources,have gradually become known by people.The development and utilization of these resources should be undertaken in line with"common heritage of mankind".In 2011,the Authority initiated the development of regulations for the exploitation of resources in the Area,it has gradually made it the top priority of the work of the Authority's.In the process of formulating regulations,the revenue sharing system turns out to be a major difficulty,not only because the ownership of resources in the Area is shared by all human beings,and it is a brand-new thing,therefore difficult to refer to any existing experience or precedent cases,but also because the three resources in the Area are different in terms of location and mining technology regulation,so in the construction of the revenue-sharing mechanism,both the financial terms concerning the economic benefits of mineral resource development,and the sharing non-economic benefits brought about by marine genetic resources and environmental resources need to be taken into consideration.The Authority has done a lot of work for the establishment of a benefit-sharing mechanism,not only by the holding seminars,negotiation by experts,academics,States parties and contractors.but also by inviting them to encounter on the two drafts of exploitation regulations,in particular on the financial terms of collecting annual fees and royalties.However,the specific payment standards have not yet been worked out.This is because of the lack of basic data and financial model which makes it difficult to structure.In order to advance the process of formulating a revenue-sharing mechanism,in addition to allowing and facilitating stakeholders to fully negotiate on specific criteria,allowing shouled also be paid to the rational use of adaptive management methods,establishment of Enterprise,and legal economics in the areas of legislative technology,institutional setup,and idea innovation.China is currently the country with the largest number of mining sites in the current "Area" and the largest developing country in the world.It needs to balance its national interests with international interests in the establishment of benefit-sharing mechanisms.By actively participating in the process of formulating the current mining code and constructives consisting to the legislation with its wisdom.