Research On The International Legal Issues Of Payment Regime Of The Area Development Regulation

As early as the middle of the 20 th century,some developed countries began exploration of deep-sea minerals,but at that time,there were no documents binding on the exploration and development of deep-sea minerals.The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS)established the International Seabed Area(the Area)system based on the principle of the common inheritance of property by mankind,and identified the parallel development system as the Area development.The basic approach,with a view to making up for the disadvantaged position of developing countries in the Area development activities.However,for the payment regime that concerns how much the parties can benefit from the Area mineral development activities,although the UNCLOS has made arrangements for payment models,fixed annual fees and general principles,but for the purpose of guiding practice,It is still only a framework,and there are many unreasonable points.The specific content is inconsistent with the general principles formulated by the UNCLOS and cannot achieve the purpose of attracting investment and encouraging mining.In order to better implement the Area arrangements of the UNCLOS,the 1994 Agreement on the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of December 10,1982(the Implementation Agreement)The content of Part XI of the UNCLOS has been modified,the parallel development system has become “flexible”,the dominant position of the Ministry of Enterprise and developing countries has been basically eliminated,and the payment regime has also been made more professional and flexible.Although the Implementation Agreement encourages the contractor's investment in the region,it makes the Area development activities develop in a market-oriented direction.There is a big gap between developing countries and developed countries in terms of capital and technology.In the case of disadvantages,the importance of the payment regime as the primary link of the Area profit sharing is self-evident.This has also led to the slow establishment of the payment regime since the establishment of the Area regulations in 2011.The biggest difference between the payment regime and other content that needs to be determined in the Area development regulations is that the mineral payment regime does not have precedents applicable internationally;especially the exclusive royalty system for mineral resource taxes and fees is only established in the domestic legislation of each country.Regardless of the rationality of the system,international trends,and the provisions of the UNCLOS and the Implementation Agreement,the establishment of a payment regime centered on royalties is an inevitable choice,which has also been widely accepted by guarantor countries and contractors.However,due to the various ways of calculating and collecting royalties and the various types of mineral resource tax and fee systems in various countries,the development levels are uneven,so the payment regime needs to be cautious when drawing on domestic legislation.Firstly,starting from the international legal basis of the payment regime,the basic principles and value orientations of the payment regime should be clarified;through the different methods of calculating royalties and domestic legislation of various countries,understand the specific content of various four payment modes,and It is learned that ad valorem calculation is currently the commonly used model,but profit and mixed models are the development trend.Secondly,comparing the content of the payment regime in the four draft regulations formulated by the Administration of the Sea,it was found that although the content of the payment regime was gradually refined and the structure was gradually reasonable,the adoption and calculation method of the ad valorem royalty regime did not change.Regulations for regulatory review have increased,and contractor's payment obligations have increased.Thirdly,collating the different views of various stakeholders on the payment regime mode,rate and review regime,and concluded that balancing the protection and sharing of the common heritage of humankind and promoting commercial development are the value pursuits of the payment regime.Finally,in view of the problems existing in the current payment regime,suggestions are provided for clarifying fee functions,adopting a combination mechanism of ad valorem royalties and profit sharing,and reasonably dividing the authority of the review and supervision regime.And China should also actively participate in the formulation of the payment regime and shape the role of “leading country”.