ISA

The International Seabed Authority, headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica, is the organization through which states parties to UNCLOS organize and control activities in the Area, particularly the management of its mineral resources, under Part XI and the 1994 Implementing Agreement. It issues exploration contracts, is drafting the exploitation regulations that make up the Mining Code, and administers the common-heritage principle, including the benefit-sharing and environmental-protection duties that mining contractors and their sponsoring states must meet.