On June 2, 1988, after six years of negotiations!, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities was successfully con­ cluded. With this Treaty (which was opened for signature from November 25, 1988 to November 25, 1989) another important dimension is added to the 2 Antarctic legal system • This system, so far, comprises the Antarctic Treat 3, y the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals4, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (hereinafter 6 CCAMLR)5 and the Recommendations issued by the Antarctic Treaty Con­ sultative Meetings. The Convention will enter into force (Art. 62) on the 1 The negotiations have been analyzed by Christopher C. joyner, The Antarctic Minerals Negotiating Process, AJIL 81 (1987),888-905; Arthur Watts, Lessons to be Learned from the Mineral Resources Negotiations, in: Rudiger Wolfrum (ed. ), Antarctic Challenge III (Berlin 1988), 319-331, and R. Tucker Sculfy, The Antarctic Mineral Resource Negotiations: A Report, in: Thomas A. Clingan, Jr. (ed. ), The Law of the Sea: What Lies Ahead, Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Law of the Sea Institute (Honolulu 1986), 386-403. 2 This term is used in Art. 2 para. 1; as to the development of the Antarctic Treaty system see Finn Sollie, The Development of the Antarctic Treaty System, in: Rudiger Wolfrum (ed. ), Antarctic Challenge (Berlin 1984), 17-37, and R.