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Paragraphs in "Convention on the Conservation and Management of the Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean" coded as SECF

Label Provision
Art.15 Article 15 The Secretariat
Art.15.1 1. The Commission may establish a permanent Secretariat consisting of an Executive Director and such other staff as the Commission may require.
Art.15.2 2. The Executive Director shall be appointed for a term of four years and may be re-appointed for a further term of four years.
Art.15.3 3. The Executive Director shall be the chief administrative officer of the Commission, and shall act in that capacity in all the meetings of the Commission and of any subsidiary body, and shall perform such other administrative functions as are entrusted to the Executive Director by the Commission.
Art.15.4 4. The Secretariat functions shall include the following:
Art.15.4.a (a) receiving and transmitting the Commission's official communications;
Art.15.4.b (b) facilitating the compilation and dissemination of data necessary to accomplish the objective of this Convention;
Art.15.4.c (c) preparing administrative and other reports for the Commission and the Scientific and Technical and Compliance Committees;
Art.15.4.d (d) administering agreed arrangements for monitoring, control and surveillance and the provision of scientific advice;
Art.15.4.e (e) publishing the decisions of and promoting the activities of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies; and
Art.15.4.f (f) treasury, personnel and other administrative functions.
Art.15.5 5. In order to minimize costs to the members of the Commission, the Secretariat to be established under this Convention shall be cost effective. The setting up and the functioning of the Secretariat shall, where appropriate, take into account the capacity of existing regional institutions to perform certain technical secretariat functions.
Art.16 Article 16 The staff of the Commission
Art.16.1 1. The staff of the Commission shall consist of such qualified scientific and technical and other personnel as may be required to fulfil the functions of the Commission. The staff shall be appointed by the Executive Director.
Art.16.2 2. The paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of the staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. Subject to this consideration, due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on an equitable basis between the members of the Commission with a view to ensuring a broad-based Secretariat.
Sect.5 SECTION 5. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE COMMISSION
Art.18 Article 18 Budget of the Commission
Art.18.1 1. The Executive Director shall draft the proposed budget of the Commission and submit it to the Commission. The proposed budget shall indicate which of the administrative expenses of the Commission are to be financed from the assessed contributions referred to in article 17, paragraph 1 (a), and which such expenses are to be financed from funds received pursuant to article 17, paragraphs 1 (b), (c) and (d). The Commission shall adopt the budget by consensus. If the Commission is unable to adopt a decision on the budget, the level of contributions to the administrative budget of the Commission shall be determined in accordance with the budget for the preceding year for the purposes of meeting the administrative expenses of the Commission for the following year until such time as a new budget can be adopted by consensus.
Art.18.2 2. The amount of the contribution to the budget shall be determined in accordance with a scheme which the Commission shall adopt, and amend as required, by consensus. In adopting the scheme, due consideration shall be given to each member being assessed an equal basic fee, a fee based upon national wealth, reflecting the state of development of the member concerned and its ability to pay, and a variable fee. The variable fee shall be based, inter alia, on the total catch taken within exclusive economic zones and in areas beyond national jurisdiction in the Convention Area of such species as may be specified by the Commission, provided that a discount factor shall be applied to the catch taken in the exclusive economic zone of a member of the Commission which is a developing State or territory by vessels flying the flag of that member. The scheme adopted by the Commission shall be set out in the financial regulations of the Commission.
Art.18.3 3. If a contributor is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Commission it shall not participate in the taking of decisions by the Commission if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. Interest shall be payable on such unpaid contributions at such rate as may be determined by the Commission in its financial regulations. The Commission may, nevertheless, waive such interest payments and permit such a member to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member.
Art.28 Article 28 Regional observer programme
Art.28.1 1. The Commission shall develop a regional observer programme to collect verified catch data, other scientific data and additional information related to the fishery from the Convention Area and to monitor the implementation of the conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission.
Art.28.2 2. The observer programme shall be coordinated by the Secretariat of the Commission, and shall be organized in a flexible manner which takes into account the nature of the fishery and other relevant factors. In this regard, the Commission may enter into contracts for the provision of the regional observer programme.
Art.28.3 3. The regional observer programme shall consist of independent and impartial observers authorized by the Secretariat of the Commission. The programme should be coordinated, to the maximum extent possible, with other regional, subregional and national observer programmes.
Art.28.4 4. Each member of the Commission shall ensure that fishing vessels flying its flag in the Convention Area, except for vessels that operate exclusively within waters under the national jurisdiction of the flag State, are prepared to accept an observer from the regional observer programme, if required by the Commission.
Art.28.5 5. The provisions of paragraph 4 shall apply to vessels fishing exclusively on the high seas in the Convention Area, vessels fishing on the high seas and in waters under the jurisdiction of one or more coastal States, and vessels fishing in waters under the jurisdiction of two or more coastal States. When a vessel is operating on the same fishing trip both in waters under the national jurisdiction of its flag State and in the adjacent high seas, an observer placed under the regional observer programme shall not undertake any of the activities specified in paragraph 6 (e) when the vessel is in waters under the national jurisdiction of its flag State, unless the flag State of the vessel agrees otherwise.
Art.28.6 6. The regional observer programme shall operate in accordance with the following guidelines and under the conditions set out in article 3 of Annex III of this Convention:
Art.28.6.a (a) the programme shall provide a sufficient level of coverage to ensure that the Commission receives appropriate data and information on catch levels and related matters within the Convention Area, taking into account
Art.28.6 the characteristics of the fisheries;
Art.28.6.b (b) each member of the Commission shall be entitled to have its nationals included in the programme as observers;
Art.28.6.c (c) observers shall be trained and certified in accordance with uniform procedures to be approved by the Commission;
Art.28.6.d (d) observers shall not unduly interfere with the lawful operations of the vessel and, in carrying out their functions, they shall give due consideration to the operational requirements of the vessel and shall communicate regularly with the captain or master for this purpose;
Art.28.6.e (e) the activities of observers shall include collecting catch data and other scientific data, monitoring the implementation of conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission and reporting of their findings in accordance with procedures to be developed by the Commission;
Art.28.6.f (f) the programme shall be cost effective, shall avoid duplication with existing regional, subregional and national observer programmes, and shall, to the extent practicable, seek to minimize disruption to the operations of vessels fishing in the Convention Area;
Art.28.6.g (g) a reasonable period of notice of the placement of an observer shall be given.
Art.28.7 7. The Commission shall develop further procedures and guidelines for the operation of the regional observer programme, including:
Art.28.7.a (a) to ensure the security of non-aggregated data and other information which the Commission deems to be of a confidential nature;
Art.28.7.b (b) for the dissemination of data and information collected by observers to the members of the Commission;
Art.28.7.c (c) for boarding of observers which clearly define the rights and responsibilities of the captain or master of the vessel and the crew when an observer is on board a vessel, as well as the rights and responsibilities of observers in the performance of their duties. 8. The Commission shall determine the manner in which the costs of the observer programme would be defrayed.
Art.40 Article 40 Amendment
Art.40.1 1. Any member of the Commission may propose amendments to this Convention to be considered by the Commission. Any such proposal shall be made by written communication addressed to the Executive Director at least 60 days before the meeting of the Commission at which it is to be considered. The Executive Director shall promptly circulate such communication to all members of the Commission.
Art.40.2 2. Amendments to this Convention shall be considered at the annual meeting of the Commission unless a majority of the members request a special meeting to consider the proposed amendment. A special meeting may be convened on not less than 60 days notice. Amendments to this Convention shall be adopted by consensus. The text of any amendment adopted by the Commission shall be transmitted promptly by the Executive Director to all members of the Commission.
Art.40.3 3. Amendments to this Convention shall enter into force for the Contracting Parties ratifying or acceding to them on the thirtieth day following the deposit of instruments of ratification or accession by a majority of Contracting Parties. Thereafter, for each Contracting Party ratifying or acceding to an amendment after the deposit of the required number of such instruments, the amendment shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.