ABSTRACT
The decline in commercial interest in deep sea bed mining, due to relatively low metals prices over the last decade, created an opening for reform of Part XI. This waning interest and resulting decline in exploration activity led most states to recognise that the large bureaucratic structure and detailed provisions on
possible the negotiation of a scaled down regime to meet the limited needs of the present, but one capable of evolving to meet those of the future, coupled with general principles on economic and commercial policy that will serve as the basis for more detailed rules when interest in commercial exploitation re-emerges.16
