Draft Seabed Minerals (Minerals Harvesting and Other mining) Regulations 2024 Public consultation
Invitation to Provide Comments
The Seabed Minerals Authority (Authority) invite members of the public and other interested stakeholders to provide feedback on the Draft Seabed Minerals (Minerals Harvesting and Other Mining) Regulations 2024 (MH Regulations).
To sustainably and responsibly develop our seabed minerals (SBM) sector, the Cook Islands must have a robust and complete regulatory framework in place to provide certainty to all stakeholders regarding the Cook Islands legal regime.
In 2021, the SBMA carried out a comprehensive review of the public comments provided during the 2020 public consultation period, as well as relevant issues raised in the intervening years arising out of the Exploration programme and other recent legislative amendments. The Authority also engaged with technical advisors, the Cook Islands Crown Law Office, and New Zealand Parliamentary Council Office in its reviews.
As a result, the Authority has prepared the accompanying revised draft of the MH Regulations. The revised draft has undergone a series of substantive amendments to remove ambiguity, strengthen previous existing administrative processes, and support consultation mechanisms. In some instances, these amendments have required considerable restructuring and redrafting of several regulations.
It is important to note that, if enacted, the MH Regulations does not mean that the Cook Islands Government has decided to permit Minerals Harvesting or Mining activities. Rather the MH Regulations provide a robust framework on minerals harvesting activities. Currently, the Government does not have enough data and information to make a science-based decisions on whether or not to permit minerals harvesting. Until such time, only exploration activities will be allowed, and no Minerals Harvesting or Mining is allowed.
The draft MH Regulations, Information Note and electronic form for submitting comments can be found at the link below. Please note, submissions that do not follow this process will not be accepted.
The comment period is open from 08 July to 05 August 2024, no later that 12pm (GMT-10).
For any enquiries, please contact [email protected] or call us on +682 29193.
We value your perspective and appreciate your contribution to this important process.
Use this form to provide your comments.
Use the links below to view each document.
The closing date for responses is Monday 05 August 2024 12:00pm CKT
Queries relating to the above may be directed to: [email protected]
Last updated: 08 July 2024