National Assembly |22 June 2023
Parliament unanimously approves Mascarene Plateau Bill 2023
The National Assembly yesterday unanimously approved the Mascarene Plateau Bill 2023, which makes provision for two treaties and three legal codes for the management of the area.
The Mascarene Plateau, known as the Joint Management Area (JMA), is managed by Seychelles and Mauritius.
The bill was presented last week when the Designated Minister, Jean François Ferrari, who is also responsible for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, outlined the claiming processes of JMA, its benefits to Seychelles and challenges over the years to develop the continental plateau.
Seychelles and Mauritius concluded their joint submission on the limits of the continental shelf, JMA, in 2012 with the signing of two treaties.
The first established the limits for the JMA, recognised in both national and international laws which allowed the two countries to explore and exploit resources within the plateau area.
The second treaty established the institution and legal document of the JMA namely its management plan, covering the conservation, development, and research components as well as its exploitation aspect for a period of 30 years.
Designated Minister Ferrari explained that according to the treaty, the governing of JMA is done through three structures namely a Ministerial Council, the Joint Commission responsible for regulations and establishing policies addressing activities in the JMA and finally the third structure which is the Designated Authority.
Other than the two treaties, Seychelles and Mauritius have established three legal codes to facilitate the management of JMA namely the Marine Scientific Research Code, Joint Fiscal and Taxation Code and the Environmental Code of Practice.
“These are important because the two countries have different approaches to the three components such as scientific research, tax collection and environment management. So to be able to reach a common ground we had to agree on the three codes,” explained Minister Ferrari adding there was a need to domesticate the three legal codes and integrate them with the two treaties, turning them into one document “that will address all legal concerns related to the JMA”.
Yesterday the National Assembly continued its debate on the bill with the members who intervened, namely Hons John Hoareau and Gervais Henrie highlighting the benefits of the JMA, while Hons Egbert Aglae and Wallace Cosgrow talked about the environment aspect, stressing on the protection and conservation components.
The two leaders – leader of government business, Hon. Bernard Georges and leader of the opposition, Hon. Sebastien Pillay – also pointed out the JMA’s importance and benefits to Seychelles.
All the 30 members present voted to domesticate the three legal codes and integrate them with the two treaties, turning them into the legal document namely the Mascarene Plateau bill 2023.