Conservative Americans who consider George W. Bush a champion of national sovereignty have been shocked to learn that the president seeks Senate ratification of the UN's Convention on the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). Despite the Senate's refusal thus far to ratify the treaty, it went into effect in 1995, and elements of the vast regulatory apparatus it outlines are already in operation.

When fully implemented, LOST would consummate the largest act of territorial conquest in history, turning seven-tenths of the Earth's surface over to the jurisdiction of the United Nations. It would create a mammoth bureaucracy to regulate exploration of the ocean depths and commercial development of the seabed's riches. The UN would also be empowered to collect royalties on seabed mining, thereby providing the world body with a potentially enormous independent source of revenue to fund its agenda for "global governance."

"...why is it necessary to sign a UN treaty in order to enjoy "economic and resource benefits" from ocean territory we already own and control? If the UN would have no role in regulating the use of oceans within our sphere of influence, how would it be in a position to grant us the "economic and resource benefits..."

Article 170 of LOST describes the "Enterprise," a UN organ that would supervise all scientific, commercial, and military use of "the Area" — all regions of the world's oceans, including the seabed and superadjacent atmosphere, beyond the territorial limits of coastal nations.

Annex 3, Article 13 of the treaty sets out the "Financial terms of contracts" between the UN's Enterprise and private interests seeking to develop seabed resources. Any private firm seeking to conduct mining operations must pay an administrative fee of $500,000, in addition to an annual royalty to $1 million

http://********usout.org/un/articles/lost.htm - March 7, 2005