13 Apr 2012

SPC hails Cooks seabed mining legislation

3:14 pm on 13 April 2012

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community says the Cook Islands development of seabed mining legislation is leading the region and the world.

The regional body's Deep Sea Minerals Project managers, Akuila Tawake and Hannah Lilly, say most Pacific countries still develop legislation and regulations to guide the burgeoning deep sea minerals industry.

The pair is currently meeting stakeholders associated with deep sea mining and its development in the Cook Islands.

Their tour of the Pacific, which has so far taken them to seven of the 15 nations involved in the project, will be used to present the project's objectives and gather information on how the SPC can help each nation.

Ms Lilly says while most nations still need to introduce draft legislation to regulate deep sea mining, the Cook Islands already has draft regulations in place.

The pair expects the SPC will work with the Cook Islands on issues such as capacity-building and developing the processes for environmental impact assessments.