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Paragraphs in "Agreement For The Establishment Of The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission" coded as HOBF

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Art.4 Article IV. MEMBERSHIP
Art.4.1 1. Membership in the Commission shall be open to Members and Associate Members of FAO
Art.4.1.a (a) that are:
Art.4.1.a.i (i) coastal States or Associate Members situated wholly or partly within the Area;
Art.4.1.a.ii (ii) States or Associate Members whose vessels engage in fishing in the Area for stocks covered by this Agreement; or
Art.4.1.a.iii (iii) regional economic integration organizations of which any State referred to in subparagraphs (i), or (ii) above is a member and to which that State has transferred competence over matters within the purview of this Agreement; and
Art.4.1.b (b) that accept this Agreement in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article XVII.
Art.4.2 2. The Commission may, by a two-thirds majority of its Members, admit to membership any other States that are not Members of FAO, but are Members of the United Nations, or of any of its Specialized Agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, provided that such States:
Art.4.2.a (a) are
Art.4.2.a.i (i) coastal States situated wholly or partly within the Area; or
Art.4.2.a.ii (ii) States whose vessels engage in fishing in the Area for stocks covered by this Agreement; and
Art.4.2.b (b) have submitted an application for membership and a declaration made in a formal instrument that they accept this Agreement as in force at the time of acceptance in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article XVII.
Art.4.3 3. With a view to furthering the objectives of this Agreement, the Members of the Commission shall cooperate with each other to encourage any State or regional economic integration organization which is entitled to become, but is not yet, a Member of the Commission, to accede to this Agreement.
Art.4.4 4. If any Member of the Commission ceases to meet the criteria set out in paragraphs 1 or 2 above for two consecutive calendar years, the Commission may, after consultation with the Member concerned, determine that the Member is deemed to have withdrawn from this Agreement effective as from the date of that determination.
Art.4.5 5. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “whose vessels” in relation to a Member Organization means vessels of a Member State of such Member Organization.
Art.4.6 6. Nothing in this Agreement, nor any act or activity carried out in pursuance of this Agreement, shall be interpreted as changing or in any way affecting the position of any party to this Agreement with respect to the legal status of any area covered by this Agreement.
Art.5 Article V. OBJECTIVES, FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSION
Art.5.1 1. The Commission shall promote cooperation among its Members with a view to ensuring, through appropriate management, the conservation and optimum utilization of stocks covered by this Agreement and encouraging sustainable development of fisheries based on such stocks.
Art.5.2 2. In order to achieve these objectives, the Commission shall have the following functions and responsibilities, in accordance with the principles expressed in the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea:
Art.5.2.a (a) to keep under review the conditions and trends of the stocks and to gather, analyse and disseminate scientific information, catch and effort statistics and other data relevant to the conservation and management of the stocks and to fisheries based on the stocks covered by this Agreement;
Art.5.2.b (b) to encourage, recommend, and coordinate research and development activities in respect of the stocks and fisheries covered by this Agreement, and such other activities as the Commission may decide appropriate, including activities connected with transfer of technology, training and enhancement, having due regard to the need to ensure the equitable participation of Members of the Commission in the fisheries and the special interests and needs of Members in the region that are developing countries;
Art.5.2.c (c) to adopt, in accordance with Article IX and on the basis of scientific evidence, conservation and management measures, to ensure the conservation of the stocks covered by this Agreement and to promote the objective of their optimum utilization throughout the Area;
Art.5.2.d (d) to keep under review the economic and social aspects of the fisheries based on the stocks covered by this Agreement bearing in mind, in particular, the interests of developing coastal states;
Art.5.2.e (e) to consider and approve its programme and autonomous budget, as well as the accounts for the past budgetary period;
Art.5.2.f (f) to transmit to the Director-General of FAO (hereinafter referred to as the “Director-General”) reports on its activities, programme, accounts and autonomous budget and on such other matters as may be appropriate for action by the Council or the Conference of FAO;
Art.5.2.g (g) to adopt its own Rules of Procedure, Financial Regulations and other internal administrative regulations as may be necessary to carry out its functions; and
Art.5.2.h (h) to carry out such other activities as may be necessary to fulfil its objectives as set out above.
Art.5.3 3. The Commission may adopt decisions and recommendations, as required, with a view to furthering the objectives of this Agreement.
Art.6 Article VI. SESSIONS OF THE COMMISSION
Art.6.1 1. Each Member of the Commission shall be represented at sessions of the Commission by a single delegate who may be accompanied by an alternate and by experts and advisers. Alternates, experts and advisers may take part in the proceedings of the Commission but may not vote, except in the case of an alternate who is duly authorized to substitute for the delegate.
Art.6.2 2. Each Member of the Commission shall have one vote. Unless otherwise provided in this Agreement, decisions and recommendations of the Commission shall be taken by a majority of the votes cast. A majority of the Members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum.
Art.6.3 3. The Commission may adopt and amend, as required, its own Rules of Procedure by a two-thirds majority of its Members, which Rules shall not be inconsistent with this Agreement or with the Constitution of FAO.
Art.6.4 4. The Chairperson of the Commission shall convene an annual regular session of the Commission.
Art.6.5 5. Special sessions of the Commission may be convened by the Chairperson of the Commission at the request of at least one-third of its Members.
Art.6.6 6. The Commission shall elect its Chairperson and no more than (two) Vice-Chairpersons, each of whom shall serve for a term of two years and shall be eligible for re-election but shall not serve for more than four years in succession. In electing the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairpersons the Commission shall pay due regard to the need for an equitable representation from among the Indian Ocean States.
Art.6.7 7. The Commission may adopt and amend, as required, the Financial Regulations of the Commission by a two-thirds majority of its Members, which Financial Regulations shall be consistent with the principles embodied in the Financial Regulations of FAO. The Financial Regulations and amendments thereto shall be reported to the Finance Committee of FAO which shall have the power to disallow them if it finds that they are inconsistent with the principles embodied in the Financial Regulations of FAO.
Art.6.8 8. In order to ensure close cooperation between the Commission and FAO, FAO shall have the right to participate without vote in all meetings of the Commission and subsidiary bodies established in accordance with paragraph 5 of Article XII.
Art.8 Article VIII. ADMINISTRATION
Art.8.1 1. The Secretary of the Commission (hereinafter referred to as the “Secretary”) shall be appointed by the Director-General with the approval of the Commission, or in the event of appointment between regular sessions of the Commission, with the approval of the Members of the Commission. The staff of the Commission shall be appointed by the Secretary and shall be under the Secretary's direct supervision. The Secretary and staff of the Commission shall be appointed under the same terms and conditions as staff members of FAO; they shall, for administrative purposes, be responsible to the Director-General.
Art.8.2 2. The Secretary shall be responsible for implementing the policies and activities of the Commission and shall report thereon to the Commission. The Secretary shall also act as Secretary to other subsidiary bodies established by the Commission, as required.
Art.8.3 3. The expenses of the Commission shall be paid out of its autonomous budget except those relating to such staff and facilities as can be made available by FAO. The expenses to be borne by FAO shall be determined and paid within the limits of the biennial budget prepared by the Director-General and approved by the Conference of FAO in accordance with the General Rules and the Financial Regulations of FAO.
Art.8.4 4. Expenses incurred by delegates, their alternates, experts and advisers when attending, as government representatives, sessions of the Commission, its sub-commissions and its committees, as well as the expenses incurred by observers at sessions, shall be borne by the respective governments or organizations. The expenses of experts invited by the Commission to attend, in their individual capacity, meetings of the Commission or its sub-commissions or committees shall be borne by the budget of the Commission.
Art.9 Article IX. PROCEDURES CONCERNING CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT MEASURES
Art.9.1 1. Subject to paragraph 2, the Commission may, by a two-thirds majority of its Members present and voting, adopt conservation and management measures binding on Members of the Commission in accordance with this Article.
Art.9.2 2. Conservation and management measures for stocks for which a sub-commission has been established under paragraph 2 of Article XII, shall be adopted upon the proposal of the sub-commission concerned.
Art.9.3 3. The Secretary shall, without undue delay, notify the Members of the Commission of any conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission.
Art.9.4 4. Subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission under paragraph 1, shall become binding on Members 120 days from the date specified in the Secretary's notification or on such other date as may be specified by the Commission.
Art.9.5 5. Any Member of the Commission may, within 120 days from the date specified or within such other period as may be specified by the Commission under paragraph 4, object to a conservation and management measure adopted under paragraph 1. A Member of the Commission which has objected to a measure shall not be bound thereby. Any other Member of the Commission may similarly object within a further period of 60 days from the expiry of the 120-day period. A Member of the Commission may also withdraw its objection at any time and become bound by the measure immediately if the measure is already in effect or at such time as it may come into effect under this article.
Art.9.6 6. If objections to a measure adopted under paragraph 1 are made by more than one-third of the Members of the Commission, the other Members shall not be bound by that measure; but this shall not preclude any or all of them from giving effect thereto.
Art.9.7 7. The Secretary shall notify each Member of the Commission immediately upon receipt of each objection or withdrawal of objection.
Art.9.8 8. The Commission may, by a simple majority of its Members present and voting, adopt recommendations concerning conservation and management of the stocks for furthering the objectives of this Agreement.
Art.11 Article XI. INFORMATION
Art.11.1 1. The Members of the Commission shall, on the request of the Commission, provide such available and accessible statistical and other data and information as the Commission may require for the purposes of this Agreement. The Commission shall decide the scope and form of such statistics and the intervals at which they shall be provided. The Commission shall also endeavour to obtain fishing statistics from fishing States or entities which are not Members of the Commission.
Art.11.2 2. Each Member of the Commission shall provide to the Commission copies of laws, regulations and administrative instructions in force or, where appropriate, summaries thereof, relating to the conservation and management of stocks covered by this Agreement and shall inform the Commission of any amendment or repeal of such laws, regulations and administrative instructions.
Art.12 Article XII. SUBSIDIARY BODIES
Art.12.1 1. The Commission shall establish a permanent Scientific Committee.
Art.12.2 2. The Commission may establish sub-commissions to deal with one or more of the stocks covered by this Agreement.
Art.12.3 3. Such sub-commissions shall be open to Members of the Commission which are coastal States lying on the migratory path of the stocks concerned in the sub-commission or are States whose vessels participate in the fisheries of these stocks.
Art.12.4 4. A sub-commission shall provide a forum for consultation and cooperation on matters related to the management of the stocks concerned and in particular:
Art.12.4.a (a) to keep under review the stocks concerned and to gather scientific and other relevant information relating to the stocks concerned;
Art.12.4.b (b) to assess and analyse the conditions and trends of the stocks concerned;
Art.12.4.c (c) to coordinate research and studies of the stocks concerned;
Art.12.4.d (d) to report to the Commission on its findings;
Art.12.4.e (e) to propose such recommendations for action by the Members of the Commission as may be appropriate, including action to obtain necessary information relating to the stocks and proposals for conservation and management measures;
Art.12.4.f (f) to consider any matter referred to it by the Commission.
Art.12.5 5. The Commission may, subject to the provisions of this Article, establish such committees, working parties or other subsidiary bodies as may be necessary for the purposes of this Agreement.
Art.12.6 6. The establishment by the Commission of any sub-commission which requires funding by the Commission, and of any committee, working party or other subsidiary body shall be subject to the availability of the necessary funds in the approved autonomous budget of the Commission or of FAO as the case may be. When the related expenses are to be borne by FAO, the determination of such availability shall be made by the Director-General. Before taking any decision involving expenditure in connection with the establishment of subsidiary bodies, the Commission shall have before it a report from the Secretary or the Director-General, as appropriate, on the administrative and financial implications.
Art.12.7 7. Subsidiary bodies shall provide to the Commission such information regarding their activities as the Commission may require.
Art.13 Article XIII. FINANCES
Art.13.1 1. Each Member of the Commission undertakes to contribute annually its share of the autonomous budget in accordance with a scale of contributions to be adopted by the Commission.
Art.13.2 2. At each regular session, the Commission shall adopt its autonomous budget by consensus of its Members provided, however, that if, after every effort has been made, a consensus cannot be reached in the course of that session, the matter will be put to a vote and the budget shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of its Members.
Art.13.3.a 3. (a) The amount of the contribution of each Member of the Commission shall be determined in accordance with a scheme which the Commission shall adopt and amend by consensus.
Art.13.3.b (b) In adopting the scheme, due consideration shall be given to each Member being assessed an equal basic fee and a variable fee based, inter alia, on the total catch and landings of species covered by this Agreement in the Area, and the per capita income of each Member.
Art.13.3.c (c) The scheme adopted or amended by the Commission shall be set out in the Financial Regulations of the Commission.
Art.13.4 4. Any non-Member of FAO that becomes a Member of the Commission shall be required to make such contribution towards the expenses incurred by FAO with respect to the activities of the Commission as the Commission may determine.
Art.13.5 5. Contributions shall be payable in freely convertible currencies unless otherwise determined by the Commission with the concurrence of the Director-General.
Art.13.6 6. The Commission may also accept donations and other forms of assistance from organizations, individuals and other sources for purposes connected with the fulfilment of any of its functions.
Art.13.7 7. Contributions and donations and other forms of assistance received shall be placed in a Trust Fund administered by the Director-General in conformity with the Financial Regulations of FAO.
Art.13.8 8. A Member of the Commission which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Commission shall have no vote in the Commission if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the two preceding calendar years. The Commission may, nevertheless, permit such a Member to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay was due to conditions beyond the control of the Member.
Art.14 Article XIV. HEADQUARTERS
Art.14.1x The Commission, after consultation with the Director-General, shall determine the place of its headquarters.
Art.15 Article XV. COOPERATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS
Art.15.1 1. The Commission shall cooperate and make appropriate arrangements therefore with other intergovernmental organizations and institutions, especially those active in the fisheries sector, which might contribute to the work and further the objectives of the Commission in particular with any intergovernmental organization or institution dealing with tuna in the Area. The Commission may enter into agreements with such organizations and institutions. Such agreements shall seek to promote complementarity and, subject to paragraph 2, to avoid duplication in and conflict with the activities of the Commission and such organizations.
Art.15.2 2. Nothing in this Agreement shall prejudice the rights and responsibilities of other intergovernmental organizations or institutions dealing with tuna or a species of tuna in the Area or the validity of any measures adopted by such organization or institution.
Art.20 Article XX. AMENDMENT
Art.20.1 1. This Agreement may be amended by a three-quarters majority of the Members of the Commission.
Art.20.2 2. Proposals for amendments may be made by any Member of the Commission or by the Director-General. Proposals made by a Member of the Commission shall be addressed to both the Chairperson of the Commission and the Director-General and those made by the Director-General shall be addressed to the Chairperson of the Commission, not later than 120 days before the Session of the Commission at which the proposal is to be considered. The Director-General shall immediately inform all Members of the Commission of all proposals for amendments.
Art.20.3 3. Any amendment to this Agreement shall be reported to the Council of FAO which may disallow an amendment which is clearly inconsistent with the objectives and purposes of FAO or the provisions of the Constitution of FAO.
Art.20.4 4. Amendments not involving new obligations for Members of the Commission shall take effect for all Members from the date of their adoption by the Commission, subject to paragraph 3 above.
Art.20.5 5. Amendments involving new obligations for Members of the Commission shall, after adoption by the Commission, subject to paragraph 3 above, come into force in respect of each Member only upon its acceptance thereof. The instruments of acceptance of amendments involving new obligations shall be deposited with the Director-General. The Director-General shall inform all Members of the Commission and the Secretary-General of the United Nations of such acceptance. The rights and obligations of any Member of the Commission that has not accepted an amendment involving new obligations shall continue to be governed by the provisions of this Agreement in force prior to the Amendment.
Art.20.6 6. Amendments to the Annexes to this Agreement may be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Members of the Commission and shall come into force from the date of approval by the Commission.
Art.20.7 7. The Director-General shall inform all Members of the Commission, all Members and Associate Members of FAO and the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the entry into force of any amendment.
Art.23 Article XXIII. INTERPRETATION AND SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
Art.23.1x Any dispute regarding the interpretation or application of this Agreement, if not settled by the Commission, shall be referred for settlement to a conciliation procedure to be adopted by the Commission. The results of such conciliation procedure, while not binding in character, shall become the basis for renewed consideration by the parties concerned of the matter out of which the disagreement arose. If as the result of this procedure the dispute is not settled, it may be referred to the International Court of Justice in accordance with the Statute of the International Court of Justice, unless the parties to the dispute agree to another method of settlement.