The General Assembly appointed a permanent 42-nation committee to study the question of uses of the sea-bed. The committee agreed that a large area of the sea-bed should be beyond the control of individual nations and should be used for the benefit of all. In 1972, the U.N. barred the testing or use of nuclear weapons from the sea-bed. In 1982, the Law of the Sea Treaty, covering many uses of the ocean, went into effect.