Agreements for the Establishment of a General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (24 Sept 1949) in United States
Agreements for the Establishment of a General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (24 Sept 1949)
AGREEMENTS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
GENERAL FISHERIES COUNCIL FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN.
DRAWN UP AT ROME, ON 24 SEPTEMBER 1949
Entry into Force: 20 Feb 1952
Preamble
The Governments of France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Turkey, United
Kingdom, Yugoslavia, Members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations, having a mutual interest in the development and
proper utilization of the resources of the Mediterranean and contiguous
waters, and desiring to further the attainment of their objectives
through international cooperation which would be furthered by the
establishment of a General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean agree,
as follows:
ARTICLE I
The Council
1. The contracting Governments agree to establish a Council to be known
as the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean, hereinafter
referred to as the Council, for the purpose of exercising the functions
and discharging the responsibilities set forth in Article III below.
2. The Members of the Council shall be the Governments which accept this
Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article VIII below.
ARTICLE II
Organization
1. Each Member Government shall be represented at sessions of the Council
by one delegate, who may be accompanied by an alternate and by experts
and advisers. Participation in meetings of the Council by alternates,
experts and advisers shall not entail the right to vote, except in the
case of an alternate who is acting in the place of a delegate during his
absence.
2. Each Member Government shall have one vote. Decisions of the Council
shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes cast, except as
otherwise provided by this Agreement. A majority of the total membership
of the Council shall constitute a quorum.
3. The Council shall elect a Chairman and two Vice-Chairmen.
4. The Council shall determine the frequency, dates and place of its
sessions, form such committees as it deems desirable, and establish rules
governing its procedure.
5. The Chairman shall call a session of the Council at least once a year,
unless directed otherwise by a majority of the Member Governments. The
initial session shall be called by the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations within six months after the entry into force of
this Agreement and at such place as it may designate.
6. The seat of the Council shall be at the seat of the European Regional
Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations now
at Rome, Italy.
7. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shall
provide the Secretariat for the Council.
ARTICLE III
Functions
The Council shall have the following functions and responsibilities:
a. To formulate all oceanographical and technical aspects of the
problems of development and proper utilization of aquatic
resources;
b. To encourage and coordinate research and the application of
improved methods employed in fishery and allied industries with a
view to the utilization of aquatic resources;
c. To assemble, publish or otherwise disseminate all oceanographical
and technical information relating to aquatic resources;
d. To recommend to Member Governments such national and international
research and development projects as may appear necessary or
desirable to fill gaps in such knowledge;
e. To undertake, where appropriate, cooperative research and
development projects directed to this end;
f. To propose, and where necessary to adopt, measures to bring about
the standardization of scientific equipment, techniques and
nomenclature;
g. To make comparative studies of the fishery legislation of different
countries with a view to making recommendations to its Member
Governments respecting the greatest possible coordination;
h. To encourage research into the hygiene and prevention of the
diseases peculiar to the calling of fishermen;
i. To extend its good offices in assisting Member Governments to
secure essential materials and equipments;
j. To report upon such questions relating to all oceanographical and
technical problems as may be recommended to it by Member
Governments or by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations and, if it thinks proper to do so, by other
international, national or private organisations, with related
interests;
k. To report annually upon its activities to Member Governments and to
the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations; and to make such other reports to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on matters falling
within the competence of the Council as may seem to it necessary
and desirable.
ARTICLE IV
Area
The Council shall carry out the functions and responsibilities set
forth in Article III in the Mediterranean waters as they are
geographically described. If, however, the Council contemplates studies
outside this area, it shall make the necessary arrangements with the
Governments and Organizations concerned, in conformity with paragraph (j)
of Article III.
ARTICLE V
Cooperation with International Organisations
1. The Council shall cooperate closely with other international
organizations in matters of mutual interest.
2. The Council shall, if it so deems opportune and useful, entrust to the
international bodies referred to above, those responsibilities set forth
in Article III which are of a scientific nature.
ARTICLE VI
Expenses
1. The expenses of delegates and their alternates, experts and advisers
occasioned by attendance at meetings of the Council shall be determined
and paid by their respective Governments.
2. The expenses of the Secretariat, including publications, and
communications and the expenses incurred by the Chairman and
Vice-Chairmen of the Council, when performing duties on behalf of the
Council between Council sessions, shall be determined and paid by the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations within the limits
of an annual budget prepared and approved in accordance with the current
regulations of that Organization.
3. The expenses of research and development projects undertaken by
individual members of the Council, whether independently or upon
recommendation of the Council, shall be determined and paid by the
Governments concerned.
4. The expenses incurred in connection with cooperative research or
development projects undertaken in accordance with the provisions of
Article III, paragraphs (d) and (e) unless otherwise available shall be
determined and paid by the Member Governments in the form and proportion
to which they shall mutually agree.
ARTICLE VII
Amendments
Any amendment to this Agreement shall require the approval of a two-
thirds majority of all the Members of the Council. An exception to this
rule is made in the following cases:
(1) Amendments to the Agreement enlarging the functions of the Council
require the approval of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations in addition to approval by a
two-thirds majority of all the Members of the Council;
(2) Amendments to the Agreement enlarging the powers of the Council to
incur expenses to be borne by the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations, shall require the approval of a two-thirds
majority of all the Members of the Council and of the
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations.
ARTICLE VIII
Acceptance
1. This Agreement shall be open to acceptance by Governments which are
members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
2. This Agreement shall also be open to acceptance by Governments which
are not members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations with the approval of its Conference and of two-thirds of the
Members of the Council. Participation by such Governments in the
activities of the Council shall be contingent upon the assumption of a
proportionate share in the expenses of the Secretariat, as determined by
the Council and approved by the Food and Agriculture Organization
Conference.
3. The notifications of acceptance of this Agreement shall be deposited
with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
Nations, who shall immediately inform all the Governments concerned of
their receipt.
ARTICLE IX
Entry into Force
1. This Agreement shall enter into force as from the date of receipt of
the fifth notification of acceptance.
2. Notifications of acceptance received after the entry into force of
this Agreement shall take effect on the date of their receipt by the
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations who shall immediately inform all the Governments concerned and
the Council of their receipt.
ARTICLE X
Withdrawal
Any Member Government may denounce this Agreement after the expiration of
two years from the date upon which the Agreement entered into force with
respect to that Government by giving written notice of its withdrawal to
the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations who shall immediately inform all the Governments concerned
and the Council of such withdrawal. Notices of withdrawal shall become
effective three months from the date of its receipt by the
Director-General.
Drafted at Rome this twenty-fourth day of September one thousand nine
hundred and forty-nine, in the French language, in a single copy which
shall be deposited in the archives of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, which shall furnish certified copies
thereof to the Member Governments of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations.