Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine and Living Resources (20 May 1980) in United States

Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine and Living Resources (20 May 1980)

Entry into Force: 7 Apr 1982

The contracting Parties,

RECOGNISING the importance of safeguarding the environment and
protecting the integrity of the ecosystem of the seas surrounding
Antarctica;

NOTING the concentration of marine living resources found in Antarctic
waters and the increased interest in the possibilities offered by the
utilization of these resources as a source of protein;

CONSCIOUS of the urgency of ensuring the conservation of Antarctic
marine living resources;

CONSIDERING that it is essential to increase knowledge of the
Antarctic marine ecosystem and its components so as to be able to base
decisions on harvesting on sound scientific information;

BELIEVING that the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources
calls for international co-operation with due regard for the provisions
of the Antarctic Treaty and with the active involvement of all States
engaged in research or harvesting activities in Antarctic waters;

RECOGNISING the prime responsibilities of the Antarctic Treaty
Consultative Parties for the protection and preservation of the Antarctic
environment and, in particular, their responsibilities under Article IX,
paragraph 1(f) of the Antarctic Treaty in respect of the preservation and
conservation of living resources in Antarctica;

RECALLING the action already taken by the Antarctic Treaty
Consultative Parties including in particular the Agreed Measures for the
Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora, as well as the provisions of
the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals;

BEARING in mind the concern regarding the conservation of Antarctic
marine living resources expressed by the Consultative Parties at the
Ninth Consultative Meeting of the Antarctic Treaty and the importance of
the provisions of Recommendation IX-2 which led to the establishment of
the present Convention;

BELIEVING that it is in the interest of all mankind to preserve the
waters surrounding the Antarctic continent for peaceful purposes only and
to prevent their becoming the scene or object of international discord;

RECOGNISING, in the light of the foregoing, that it is desirable to
establish suitable machinery for recommending, promoting, deciding upon
and co-ordinating the measures and scientific studies needed to ensure
the conservation of Antarctic marine living organisms;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

ARTICLE I

1. This Convention applies to the Antarctic marine living resources of
the area south of 60 degrees South latitude and to the Antarctic marine
living resources of the area between that latitude and the Antarctic
Convergence which form part of the Antarctic marine ecosystem.

2. Antarctic marine living resources means the populations of fin fish,
molluscs, crustaceans and all other species of living organisms,
including birds, found south of the Antarctic Convergence.

3. The Antarctic marine ecosystem means the complex of relationships of
Antarctic marine living resources with each other and with their physical
environment.

4. The Antarctic Convergence shall be deemed to be a line joining the
following points along parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude:
50ø S, 0ø; 50ø S, 30ø E; 45ø S, 30ø E; 45ø S, 80ø E; 55ø S, 80ø E;
55ø S, 150ø E; 60ø S, 150ø E; 60ø S, 50ø W; 50ø S, 50ø W; 50ø S, 0ø.

ARTICLE II

1. The objective of this Convention is the conservation of Antarctic
marine living resources.

2. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “conservation” includes
rational use.

3. Any harvesting and associated activities in the area to which this
Convention applies shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions
of this Convention and with the following principles of conservation:

(a) prevention of decrease in the size of any harvested population to
levels below those which ensure its stable recruitment. For this
purpose its size should not be allowed to fall below a level close
to that which ensures the greatest net annual increment;

(b) maintenance of the ecological relationships between harvested,
dependent and related populations of Antarctic marine living
resources and the restoration of depleted populations to the levels
defined in sub-paragraph (a) above;

and

(c) prevention of changes or minimization of the risk of changes in the
marine ecosystem which are not potentially reversible over two or
three decades, taking into account the state of available knowledge
of the direct and indirect impact of harvesting, the effect of the
introduction of alien species, the effects of associated activities
on the marine ecosystem and of the effects of environmental
changes, with the aim of making possible the sustained conservation
of Antarctic marine living resources.

ARTICLE III

The Contracting Parties, whether or not they are Parties to the Antarctic
Treaty, agree that they will not engage in any activities in the
Antarctic Treaty area contrary to the principles and purposes of that
Treaty and that, in their relations with each other, they are bound by
the obligations contained in Articles I and V of the Antarctic Treaty.

ARTICLE IV

1. With respect to the Antarctic Treaty area, all Contracting Parties,
whether or not they are Parties to the Antarctic Treaty, are bound by
Articles IV and VI of the Antarctic Treaty in their relations with each
other.

2. Nothing in this Convention and no acts or activities taking place
while the present Convention is in force shall:

(a) constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to
territorial sovereignty in the Antarctic Treaty area or create any
rights of sovereignty in the Antarctic Treaty area;

(b) be interpreted as a renunciation or diminution by any Contracting
Party of, or as prejudicing, any right or claim or basis of claim
to exercise coastal state jurisdiction under international law
within the area to which this Convention applies;

(c) be interpreted as prejudicing the position of any Contracting Party
as regards its recognition or non-recognition of any such right,
claim or basis of claim;

(d) affect the provision of Article IV, paragraph 2, of the Antarctic
Treaty that no new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to
territorial sovereignty in Antarctica shall be asserted while the
Antarctic Treaty is in force.

ARTICLE V

1. The Contracting Parties which are not Parties to the Antarctic Treaty
acknowledge the special obligations and responsibilities of the Antarctic
Treaty Consultative Parties for the protection and preservation of the
environment of the Antarctic Treaty area.

2. The Contracting Parties which are not Parties to the Antarctic Treaty
agree that, in their activities in the Antarctic Treaty area, they will
observe as and when appropriate the Agreed Measures for the Conservation
of Antarctic Fauna and Flora and such other measures as have been
recommended by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties in fulfilment of
their responsibility for the protection of the Antarctic environment from
all forms of harmful human interference.

3. For the purposes of this Convention, “Antarctic Treaty Consultative
Parties” means the Contracting Parties to the Antarctic Treaty whose
Representatives participate in meetings under Article IX of the Antarctic
Treaty.

ARTICLE VI

Nothing in this Convention shall derogate from the rights and obligations
of Contracting Parties under the International Convention for the
Regulation of Whaling and the Convention for the Conservation of
Antarctic Seals.

ARTICLE VII

1. The Contracting Parties hereby establish and agree to maintain the
Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(hereinafter referred to as “the Commission “).

2. Membership in the Commission shall be as follows:

(a) each Contracting Party which participated in the meeting at which
this Convention was adopted shall be a Member of the Commission;

(b) each State Party which has acceded to this Convention pursuant to
Article XXIX shall be entitled to bea Member of the Commission
during such time as thatacceding party is engaged in research or
harvesting activities in relation to the marine living resources to
which this Convention applies;

(c) each regional economic integration organization which has acceded
to this Convention pursuant to Article XXIX shall be entitled to be
a Member of the Commission during such time as its States members
are so entitled;

(d) a Contracting Party seeking to participate in the work of the
Commission pursuant to sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) above shall
notify the Depositary of the basis upon which it seeks to become a
Member of the Commission and of its willingness to accept
conservation measures in force. The Depositary shall communicate to
each Member of the Commission such notification and accompanying
information. Within two months of receipt of such communication
from the Depositary, any Member of the Commission may request that
a special meeting of the Commission be held to consider the matter.
Upon receipt of such request, the Depositary shall call such a
meeting. If there is no request for a meeting, the Contracting
Party submitting the notification shall be deemed to have satisfied
the requirements for Commission Membership.

3. Each Member of the Commission shall be represented by one
representative who may be accompanied by alternate representatives and
advisers.

ARTICLE VIII

The Commission shall have legal personality and shall enjoy in the
territory of each of the States Parties such legal capacity as may be
necessary to perform its function and achieve the purposes of this
Convention. The privileges and immunities to be enjoyed by the Commission
and its staff in the territory of a State Party shall be determined by
agreement between the Commission and the State Party concerned.

ARTICLE IX

1. The function of the Commission shall be to give effect to the
objective and principles set out in Article II of this Convention. To
this end, it shall:

(a) facilitate research into and comprehensive studies of Antarctic
marine living resources and of the Antarctic marine ecosystem;

(b) compile data on the status of and changes in population of
Antarctic marine living resources and on factors affecting the
distribution, abundance and productivity of harvested species and
dependent or related species or populations;

(c) ensure the acquisition of catch and effort statistics on harvested
populations;

(d) analyse, disseminate and publish the information referred to in
sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) above and the reports of the Scientific
Committee;

(e) identify conservation needs and analyse the effectiveness of
conservation measures;

(f) formulate, adopt and revise conservation measures on the basis of
the best scientific evidence available, subject to the provisions
of paragraph 5 of this Article;

(g) implement the system of observation and inspection established
under Article XXIV of this Convention;

(h) carry out such other activities as are necessary to fulfil the
objective of this Convention.

2. The conservation measures referred to in paragraph 1 (f) above
include the following:

(a) the designation of the quantity of any species which may be
harvested in the area to which this Convention applies;

(b) the designation of regions and sub-regions based on the
distribution of populations of Antarctic marine living resources;

(c) the designation of the quantity which may be harvested from the
populations of regions and sub-regions;

(d) the designation of protected species;

(e) the designation of the size, age and, as appropriate, sex of
species which may be harvested;

(f) the designation of open and closed seasons for harvesting;

(g) the designation of the opening and closing of areas, regions or
sub-regions for purposes of scientific study or conservation,
including special areas for protection and scientific study;

(h) regulation of the effort employed and methods of harvesting,
including fishing gear, with a view, inter alia, to avoiding undue
concentration of harvesting in any region or sub-region;

(i) the taking of such other conservation measures as the Commission
considers necessary for the fulfilment of the objective of this
Convention, including measures concerning the effects of harvesting
and associated activities on components of the marine ecosystem
other than the harvested populations.

3. The Commission shall publish and maintain a record of all
conservation measures in force.

4. In exercising its functions under paragraph 1 above, the Commission
shall take full account of the recommendations and advice of the
Scientific Committee.

5. The commission shall take full account of any relevant measures or
regulations established or recommended by the Consultative Meetings
pursuant to Article IX of the Antarctic Treaty or by existing fisheries
commissions responsible for species which may enter the area to which
this Convention applies, in order that there shall be no inconsistency
between the rights and obligations of a Contracting Party under such
regulations or measures and conservation measures which may be adopted by
the Commission.

6. Conservation measures adopted by the Commission in accordance with
this Convention shall be implemented by Members of the Commission in the
following manner:

(a) the Commission shall notify conservation measures to all Members of
the Commission;

(b) conservation measures shall become binding upon all Members of the
Commission 180 days after such notification, except as provided in
sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) below;

(c) if a Member of the Commission, within ninety days following the
notification specified in sub-paragraph (a), notifies the
Commission that it is unable to accept the conservation measure, in
whole or in part, the measure shall not, to the extent stated, be
binding upon that Member of the Commission;

(d) in the event that any Member of the Commission invokes the
procedure set forth in sub-paragraph (c) above, the Commission
shall meet at the request of any Member of the Commission to review
the conservation measure. At the time of such meeting and within
thirty days following the meeting, any Member of the Commission
shall have the right to declare that it is no longer able to accept
the conservation measure, in which case the Member shall no longer
be bound by such measure.

ARTICLE X

1. The Commission shall draw the attention of any State which is not a
Party to this Convention to any activity undertaken by its nationals or
vessels which, in the opinion of the Commission, affects the
implementation of the objective of this Convention.

2. The Commission shall draw the attention of all Contracting Parties to
any activity which, in the opinion of the Commission, affects the
implementation by a Contracting Party of the objective of this Convention
or the compliance by that Contracting Party with its obligations under
this Convention.

ARTICLE XI

The Commission shall seek to cooperate with Contracting Parties which may
exercise jurisdiction in marine areas adjacent to the area to which this
Convention applies in respect of the conservation of any stock or stocks
of associated species which occur both within those areas and the area to
which this Convention applies, with a view to harmonizing the
conservation measures adopted in respect of such stocks.

ARTICLE XII

1. Decisions of the Commission on matters of substance shall be taken by
consensus. The question of whether a matter is one of substance shall be
treated as a matter of substance.

2. Decisions on matters other than those referred to in paragraph 1
above shall be taken by a simple majority of the Members of the
Commission present and voting.

3. In Commission consideration of any item requiring a decision, it
shall be made clear whether a regional economic integration organization
will participate in the taking of the decision and, if so, whether any of
its member States will also participate. The number of Contracting
Parties so participating shall not exceed the number of member States of
the regional economic integration organization which are Members of the
Commission.

4. In the taking of decisions pursuant to this Article, a regional
economic integration organization shall have only one vote.

ARTICLE XIII

1. The headquarters of the Commission shall be established at Hobart,
Tasmania, Australia.

2. The Commission shall hold a regular annual meeting. Other meetings
shall also be held at the request of one-third of its members and as
otherwise provided in this Convention. The first meeting of the
Commission shall be held within three months of the entry into force of
this Convention, provided that among the Contracting Parties there are at
least two States conducting harvesting activities within the area to
which this Convention applies. The first meeting shall, in any event, be
held within one year of the entry into force of this Convention. The
Depositary shall consult with the signatory States regarding the first
Commission meeting, taking into account that a broad representation of
such States is necessary for the effective operation of the Commission.

3. The Depositary shall convene the first meeting of the Commission at
the headquarters of the Commission. Thereafter, meetings of the
Commission shall be held at its headquarters, unless it decides
otherwise.

4. The Commission shall elect from among its members a Chairman and
Vice-Chairman, each of whom shall serve for a term of two years and shall
be eligible for re-election for one additional term. The first Chairman
shall, however, be elected for an initial term of three years. The
Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall not be representatives of the same
Contracting Party.

5. The Commission shall adopt and amend as necessary the rules of
procedure for the conduct of its meetings, except with respect to the
matters dealt with in Article XII of this Convention.

6. The Commission may establish such subsidiary bodies as are necessary
for the performance of its functions.

ARTICLE XIV

1. The Contracting Parties hereby establish the Scientific Committee for
the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (hereinafter
referred to as “the Scientific Committee”) which shall be a consultative
body to the Commission. The Scientific Committee shall normally meet at
the headquarters of the Commission unless the Scientific Committee
decides otherwise.

2. Each member of the Commission shall be a member of the Scientific
Committee and shall appoint a representative with suitable scientific
qualifications who may be accompanied by other experts and advisers.

3. The Scientific Committee may seek the advice of other scientists and
experts as may be required on an ad hoc basis.

ARTICLE XV

1. The Scientific Committee shall provide a forum for consultation and
cooperation concerning the collection, study and exchange of information
with respect to the marine living resources to which this Convention
applies. It shall encourage and promote cooperation in the field of
scientific research in order to extend knowledge of the marine living
resources of the Antarctic marine ecosystem.

2. The Scientific Committee shall conduct such activities as the
Commission may direct in pursuance of the objective of this Convention
and shall:

(a) establish criteria and methods to be used for determinations
concerning the conservation measures referred to in Article IX of
this Convention;

(b) regularly assess the status and trends of the populations of
Antarctic marine living resources;
(c) analyse data concerning the direct and indirect effects of
harvesting on the populations of Antarctic marine living resources;

(d) assess the effects of proposed changes in the methods or levels of
harvesting and proposed conservation measures;

(e) transmit assessments, analyses, reports and recommendations to the
Commission as requested or on its own initiative regarding measures
and research to implement the objective of this Convention;

(f) formulate proposals for the conduct of international and national
programs of research into Antarctic marine living resources.

3. In carrying out its functions, the Scientific Committee shall have
regard to the work of other relevant technical and scientific
organizations and to the scientific activities conducted within the
framework of the Antarctic Treaty.

ARTICLE XVI

1. The first meeting of the Scientific Committee shall be held within
three months of the first meeting of the Commission. The Scientific
Committee shall meet thereafter as often as may be necessary to fulfil
its functions.

2. The Scientific Committee shall adopt and amend as necessary its rules
of procedure. The rules and any amendments thereto shall be approved by
the Commission. The rules shall include procedures for the presentation
of minority reports.

3. The Scientific Committee may establish, with the approval of the
Commission, such subsidiary bodies as are necessary for the performance
of its functions.

ARTICLE XVII

1. The Commission shall appoint an Executive Secretary to serve the
Commission and Scientific Committee according to such procedures and on
such terms and conditions as the Commission may determine. His term of
office shall be for four years and he shall be eligible for
reappointment.

2. The Commission shall authorize such staff establishment for the
Secretariat as may be necessary and the Executive Secretary shall
appoint, direct and supervise such staff according to such rules and
procedures and on such terms and conditions as the Commission may
determine.

3. The Executive Secretary and Secretariat shall perform the functions
entrusted to them by the Commission.

ARTICLE XVIII

The official languages of the Commission and of the Scientific Committee
shall be English, French, Russian and Spanish.

ARTICLE XIX

1. At each annual meeting, the Commission shall adopt by consensus its
budget and the budget of the Scientific Committee.

2. A draft budget for the Commission and the Scientific Committee and any
subsidiary bodies shall be prepared by the Executive Secretary and
submitted to the Members of the Commission at least sixty days before the
annual meeting of the Commission.

3. Each Member of the Commission shall contribute to the budget. Until
the expiration of five years after the entry into force of this
Convention, the contribution of each Member of the Commission shall be
equal. Thereafter the contribution shall be determined in accordance with
two criteria: the amount harvested and an equal sharing among all Members
of the Commission. The Commission shall determine by consensus the
proportion in which these two criteria shall apply.

4. The financial activities of the Commission and Scientific Committee
shall be conducted in accordance with financial regulations adopted by
the Commission and shall be subject to an annual audit by external
auditors selected by the Commission.

5. Each Member of the Commission shall meet its own expenses arising
from attendance at meetings of the Commission and of the Scientific
Committee.

6. A member of the Commission that fails to pay its contributions for
two consecutive years shall not, during the period of its default, have
the right to participate in the taking of decisions in the Commission.

ARTICLE XX

1. The Members of the Commission shall, to the greatest extent possible,
provide annually to the Commission and to the Scientific Committee such
statistical, biological and other data and information as the Commission
and Scientific Committee may require in the exercise of their functions.

2. The Members of the Commission shall provide, in the manner and at
such intervals as may be prescribed, information about their harvesting
activities, including fishing areas and vessels, so as to enable reliable
catch and effort statistics to be compiled.

3. The Members of the Commission shall provide to the Commission at such
intervals as may be prescribed information on steps taken to implement
the conservation measures adopted by the Commission.

4. The Members of the Commission agree that in any of their harvesting
activities, advantage shall be taken of opportunities to collect data
needed to assess the impact of harvesting.

ARTICLE XXI

1. Each Contracting Party shall take appropriate measures within its
competence to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Convention
and with conservation measures adopted by the Commission to which the
Party is bound in accordance with Article IX of this Convention.

2. Each Contracting Party shall transmit to the Commission information
on measures taken pursuant to paragraph 1 above, including the imposition
of sanctions for any violation.

ARTICLE XXII

1. Each Contracting Party undertakes to exert appropriate efforts,
consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the end that no one
engages in any activity contrary to the objective of this Convention.

2. Each Contracting Party shall notify the Commission of any such
activity which comes to its attention.

ARTICLE XXIII

1. The commission and the scientific Committee shall co-operate with the
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties on matters falling within the
competence of the latter.

2. The Commission and the Scientific Committee shall co-operate, as
appropriate, with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United
Nations and with other Specialised Agencies.

3. The Commission and the Scientific Committee shall seek to develop
co-operative working relationships, as appropriate, with
inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations which could
contribute to their work, including the Scientific Committee on Antarctic
Research, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and the
International Whaling Commission.

4. The Commission may enter into agreements with the organizations
referred to in this Article and with other organizations as may be
appropriate. The Commission and the Scientific Committee may invite such
organizations to send observers to their meetings and to meetings of
their Subsidiary bodies.

ARTICLE XXIV

1. In order to prornote the objective and ensure observance of the
provisions of this Convention, the Contracting Parties agree that a
system of observation and inspection shall be established.

2. The system of observation and inspection shall be elaborated by the
Commission on the basis of the following principles:

(a) Contracting Parties shall cooperate with each other to ensure the
effective implementation of the system of observation and
inspection, taking account of the existing international practice.
This system shall include, inter alia, procedures for boarding and
inspection by observers and inspectors designated by the Members of
the Commission and procedures for flag state prosecution and
sanctions on the basis of evidence resulting from such boarding and
inspections. A report of such prosecutions and sanctions imposed
shall be included in the information referred to in Article XXI of
this Convention;

(b) in order to verify compliance with measures adopted under this
Convention, observation and inspection shall be carried out on
board vessels engaged in scientific research or harvesting of
marine living resources in the area to which this Convention
applies, through observers and inspectors designated by the Members
of the Commission and operating under terms and conditions to be
established by the Commission;

(c) designated observers and inspectors shall remain subject to the
jurisdiction of the Contracting Party of which they are nationals.
They shall report to the Member of the Commission by which they
have been designated which in turn shall report to the Comission.

3. Pending the establishment of the system of observation and
inspection, the Members of the Commission shall seek to establish interim
arrangements to designate observers and inspectors and such designated
observers and inspectors shall be entitled to carry out inspections in
accordance with the principles set out in paragraph 2 above.

ARTICLE XXV

1. If any dispute arises between two or more of the Contracting Parties
concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention, those
Contracting Parties shall consult among themselves with a view to having
the dispute resolved by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation,
arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful lmeans of their own
choice.

2. Any dispute of this character not so resolved shall, with the consent
in each case of all Parties to the dispute, be referred for settlement to
the International Court of Justice or to arbitration; but failure to
reach agreement on reference to the International Court or to arbitration
shall not absolve Parties to the dispute from the responsibility of
continuing to seek to resolve it by any of the various peaceful means
referred to in paragraph 1 above.

3. In cases where the dispute is referred to arbitration, the arbitral
tribuinal shall be constituted as provided in the Annex to this
Convention.

ARTICLE XXVI

1. This Convention shall be open for signature at Canberra from 1 August
to 31 December 1980 by the States participating in the Conference on the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources held at Canberra from 7
to 20 May 1980.

2. The States which so sign will be the original signatory States of the
Convention.

ARTICLE XXVII

1. This Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by
signatory States.

2. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be
deposited with the Government of Australia, hereby designated as the
Depositary.

ARTICLE XXVIII

1. This Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following
the date of deposit of the eighth instrument of ratification, acceptance
or approval by States referred to in paragraph 1 of Article XXVI of this
Convention.

2. With respect to each State or regional economic integration
organization which subsequent to the date of entry into force of this
Convention deposits an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval
or accession, the Convention shal enter into force on the thirtieth day
following such deposit.

ARTICLE XXIX

1. This Convention shall be open for accession by any state interested
in research or harvesting activities in relation to the marine living
resources to which this Convention applies.

2. This Convention shall be open for accession by regional economic
integration organizations constituted by sovereign States which include
among their members one or more States Members of the Commission and to
which the States members of the organization have transferred, in whole
or in part, competences with regard to the matters covered by this
Convention. The accession of such regional economic integration
organizations shall be the subject of consultations among Members of the
Commission.

ARTICLE XXX

1. This Convention may be amended at any time.

2. if one-third of the Members of the comission request a meeting to
discuss a proposed amendment the Depositary shall call such a meeting.

3. An amendment shall enter into force when the Depositary has received
instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval thereof from all the
Members of the Commission.

4. Such amendment shall thereafter enter into force as to any other
Contracting Party when notice of ratification, acceptance or approval by
it has been received by the Depositary. Any such Contracting Party from
which no such notice has been received within a period of one year from
the date of entry into force of the amendment in accordance with
paragraph 3 above shall be deemed to have withdrawn from this Convention.

ARTICLE XXXI

1. Any Contracting Party may withdraw from this Convention on 30 June of
any year, by giving written notice not later than 1 January of the same
year to the Depositary, which, upon receipt of such a notice, shall
communicate it forthwith to the other Contracting Parties.

2. Any other Contracting Party may, within sixty days of the receipt of
a copy of such a notice from the Depositary, give written notice of
withdrawal to the Depositary in which case the Convention shall cease to
be in force on 30 June of the same year with respect to the Contracting
Party giving such notice.

3. Withdrawal from this Convention by any Member of the Commission shall
not affect its financial obligations under this Convention.

ARTICLE XXXII

The Depositary shall notify all contracting Parties of the following:

(a) signatures of this Convention and the deposit of instruments of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;

(b) the date of entry into force of this Convention and of any
amendment thereto.

ARTICLE XXXIII

1. This Convention, of which the English, French, Russian and Spanish
texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Government of
Australia which shall transmit duly certified copies thereof to all
signatory and acceding Parties.

2. This Convention shall be registered by the Depositary pursuant to
Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Drawn up at Canberra this twentieth day of May 1980.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized, have signed
this Convention.

ANNEX FOR AN ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL

The arbitral tribunal referred to in paragraph 3 of Article XXV shall be
composed of three arbitrators who shall be appointed as follows:

The Party commiencing proceedings shall communicate the name of an
arbitrator to the other Party which, in turn, within a period of forty
days following such notification, shall comunicate the name of the second
arbitrator. The Parties shall, within a period of sixty days following
the appointment of the second arbitrator, appoint the third arbitrator,
who shall not be a national of either Party and shall not be of the same
nationality as either of the first two arbitrators. The third arbitrator
shall preside over the tribunal.

If the second arbitrator has not been appointed within the prescribed
period, or if the Parties have not reached agreement within the
prescribed period on the appointment of the third arbitrator, that
arbitrator shall be appointed, at the request of either Party, by the
Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, from among
persons of international standing not having the nationality of a State
which is a Party to this Convention.

The arbitral tribunal shall decide where its headquarters will be located
and shall adopt its own rules of procedure.

The award of the arbitral tribunal shall be made by a majority of its
members, who may not abstain from voting.

Any Contracting Party which is not a Party to the dispute may intervene
in the proceedings with the consent of the arbitral tribunal.

The award of the arbitral tribunal shall be final and binding on all
Parties to the dispute and on any Party which intervenes in the
proceedings and shall be complied with without delay. The arbitral
tribunal shall interpret the award at the request of one of the Parties
to the dispute or of any intervening Party.

Unless the arbitral tribunal determines otherwise because of the
particular circumstances of the case, the expenses of the tribunal,
including the remuneration of its members, shall be borne by the Parties
to the dispute in equal shares.