International Agreement for the Creation at Paris of an International Office for Dealing with Contagious Diseases of Animals, and Annex (Paris, 25 January 1924)
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The Governments of the Argentine Republic, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Morocco, Mexico, Principality of Monaco, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Siam, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and of Tunis, having considered that it would be advantageous to organise the International Office for dealing with the Contagious Diseases of Animals as contemplated by the International Conference for the Study of Contagious Diseases of Animals on 27 May 1921, have decided to conclude an agreement to this effect and have agreed as follows:
Article 1
The High Contracting Parties undertake to found and maintain an International Office for dealing with Contagious Diseases of Animals, with its seat at Paris.
Article 2
The Office shall work under the authority and control of a committee formed by delegates of the contracting Governments. The composition and duties of this committee, as well as the organisation and powers of the said office, are laid down in the organic statutes which are annexed to the present Agreement and which are considered as forming an integral part thereof.
Article 3
The cost of the preliminary outlay, as well as the annual expenditure for the working and upkeep of the Office, shall be covered by the contributions of the Contracting States as laid down in the conditions provided for in the organic statutes to which reference has been made in Article 2.
Article 4
The sums representing the contribution of each of the Contracting States shall be paid by the latter at the commencement of each year through the intermediary of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the "Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations" at Paris, whence they will be withdrawn, as and when necessity arises, on the order of the director of the Office.
Article 5
The High Contracting Parties reserve to themselves the right, if all are in agreement, to make any modifications of the present Agreement which experience may show to be useful.
Article 6
Governments which have not signed the present Agreement may accede to it on their request. Such accession shall be notified through the diplomatic channel to the French Government and by the latter to the other Contracting Governments; it will involve the undertaking to participate by means of a contribution to the expenses of the Office under the conditions laid down in Article 3.
Article 7
The present Agreement shall be ratified under the following conditions:
Each Power will communicate its ratification with as little delay as possible to the French Government, who will notify the other signatory countries.
The ratifications shall be deposited in the archives of the French Government.
The present Agreement will enter into force for each signatory country on the day on which its ratification is deposited.
Article 8
The present Agreement is concluded for a period of seven years. On the expiry of this period, it will continue to remain in force for further periods of seven years between the States which have not notified one year before the end of each period their intention no longer to give effect to its provisions in so far as concerns them.
IN FAITH WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorised for this purpose, have signed the present Agreement in a single copy, to which they have attached their seals; this copy will remain deposited in the archives of the French Government, and certified copies will be sent through the diplomatic channel to the Contracting Parties.
The said copy is open for signature until the 30th April, 1924, inclusive.
DONE at Paris, the 25th January, 1924.
[Signatures not reproduced here.]
ANNEX
ORGANIC STATUTES OF THE INTERNATINAL OFFICE FOR DEALING WITH CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF ANIMALS
Article 1
There is set up at Paris an International Office for dealing with Contagious Diseases of Animals, composed of the States who agree to take part in its working.
Article 2
The Office may not interfere in any way with the administration of the different States.
It is independent of the authorities of the country in which it is situated.
It shall correspond direct with the superior authorities or with the departments in different countries concerned with veterinary police measures.
Article 3
On the request of the international committee provided for in Article 6, the French Government shall take the necessary steps to have the Office recognised as an institution of public utility.
Article 4
The principal objects of the office are as follows:
(a) To institute and to coordinate all research or investigation concerning the pathology or prophylaxis of contagious diseases of animals which call for international collaboration;
(b) To collect and to notify to the Governments and their sanitary services the facts and documents of general interest concerning the progress of contagious diseases of animals and the means employed for fighting them;
(c) To study the drafts of international agreements concerning veterinary police measures and to put at the disposal of the Powers signatory to these agreements the means of controlling the execution of such agreements.
Article 5
The Governments shall send to the Office:
(1) Telegraphically, notification of the first cases of cattle plague or foot-and-mouth disease occurring in a country or a district which has hitherto been free;
(2) At regular intervals, reports based on a model adopted by the committee, giving information as to the presence and extension of diseases comprised in the following list:
Cattle plague,
Foot-and-mouth disease,
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia,
Anthrax,
Sheep pox,
Rabies,
Glanders,
Dourine,
Swine fever.
The list of diseases to which the one or the other of the preceding arrangements apply may be revised by the committee, provided that the Governments approve.
The Governments shall communicate to the Office the measures they are taking for fighting animal diseases, especially those which they are taking on their frontiers to protect their territory against arrivals from contaminated countries. They will reply as far as possible to requests for information addressed to them by the Office.
Article 6
The Office shall be placed under the authority and control of an international committee, which shall be composed of technical representatives appointed by the participating States on the basis of one representative for each State.
Article 7
The committee of the Office shall meet periodically and at least once a year; the length of its sessions is not limited.
The members of the committee shall elect by secret ballot a president, whose term of office shall last for three years.
Article 8
The working of the Office shall be assured by a paid staff comprising:
A director;
Technical officials;
Personnel necessary for working the Office.
The director shall be appointed by the committee.
The director shall be present at the meetings of the committee with a consultative vote.
The appointment and dismissal of employees of every category shall be the duty of the director, who will report to the committee.
Article 9
The information collected by the Office shall be brought to the notice of the Contracting States by means of a report or by special communications addressed to them either by the office or at their request.
The notifications concerning first cases of cattle plague or foot-and-mouth disease shall be sent telegraphically, as soon as they are received, to the Governments and sanitary services.
Further, the Office shall disseminate periodically the results of its activities in the official reports which are communicated to the participating Governments.
Article 10
The Bulletin, which appears at least once a month, shall comprise in particular-
(1) The laws and general or local regulations promulgated in the different countries concerning contagious animal diseases;
(2) Information concerning the progress of contagious diseases of animals;
(3) Statistics concerning the disease position among domestic animals throughout the world;
(4) Bibliographical notices.
The official language of the Office and of the Bulletin is French. The committee may decide that parts of the Bulletin shall be published in other languages.
Article 11
The money required for the working of the Office shall be provided by the States signatory to the Agreement and by those who shall adhere in due course, whose contribution shall be fixed according to the following categories:
1st category, at the rate of 25 units;
2nd category, at the rate of 20 units;
3rd category, at the rate of 15 units;
4th category, at the rate of 10 units;
5th category, at the rate of 5 units;
6th category, at the rate of 3 units;
on the basis of 500 francs per unit.
Each State is at liberty to choose the category into which it wishes to be enrolled. It will always be permitted to transfer at a later date into a higher category.
Article 12
A sum to provide for a reserve fund shall be deducted from the annual receipts. The total of this reserve, which may not exceed the amount of the yearly budget, shall be invested in first class State securities.
Article 13
The members of the committee shall receive from the funds set aside for the working of the Office an allowance for travelling expenses. Further, they shall receive a presence mark for each of the sittings which they attend.
Article 14
The committee shall fix the sum which is to be taken yearly from its budget in order to contribute towards the provision for pensions on retirement for the personnel of the Office.
Article 15
The committee shall fix its annual budget and approve the statement of expenditure. It shall settle the statutory regulations for the personnel, as well as all the arrangements necessary for the working of the Office.
These regulations as well as the arrangements shall be communicated by the committee to the participating States, and cannot be modified without their assent.
Article 16
A statement of the movement of the Office's funds shall be sent annually to the participating States after the accounts have been drawn up.
[Signatures not reproduced here.]
