Convention Between The Governments Of The Hungarian People's Republic And The Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic, The Executive Council Of The Yugoslav Socialist Federal Republic, The Governments Of The Romanian Socialist Republic And Of The Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics On Measures To Combat Pollution Of The Tisza River And Its Tributaries
Source: Treaties concerning the non-navigational uses of international watercourses: Europe, p. 36-39. Original source: Ministry for Environment and Water Management. Basic Documents for Multilateral International Cooperation on the Danube and Tisza Rivers, p. 77 (Budapest. 1987)
The Governments of the Hungarian People's Republic and the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic, the Executive Council of the Yugoslav Socialist Federal Republic, the Governments of the Romanian Socialist Republic and of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (hereinafter "the Parties to the Convention"),
- seeing that reasonable use of the waters of the Tisza and its tributaries, and adequate measures to combat the pollution thereof, is in the interest of the health and welfare of their respective peoples as well as of their economic and social evolution,
- considering that in their countries there have been efforts to promote the use and protection of their waters in the context of their respective legislations and according to the available technical and economic resources,
- seeing that bilateral agreements already contain effective measures to prevent pollution of streams alongside or across the common borders,
- holding that a multilateral convention may greatly enhance the effectiveness of national efforts as well as bilateral measures to protect the Tisza and its tributaries,
- remembering the generally accepted principles and objectives as laid down in international law, and in the United Nations Charter, in line with the interests and sovereignty of the States established in the catchment area of the Tisza,
- referring to the resolutions on regional cooperation to protect environment, and in particular to combat pollution of the waters, as declared in the Final Deed of the Conference of Helsinki on European Security and Cooperation, to the recommendations of the UN Environmental Conference in Stockholm, as well as to recommendations contained in the Action Programme issued at the UN World Conference on Water Management in Mar del Plata,
have agreed on the following issues:
Article 1
Water pollution is defined as embracing every process which directly or indirectly affects to the worse the composition, or any of the properties, of any body of water. A body of water is considered polluted if by human interference its composition or any of its properties have changed to the extent that its use is fully or partly prevented.
Article 2
1) The Parties to the Convention will take steps, in the context of their own legal systems and according to their own technical and economic resources, to prevent pollution of the Tisza and its tributaries,
2) The Parties to the Convention will, through their respective governmental bodies,
a) accelerate the process of upgrading technical means, and developing and implementing up-to-date methods, of protection aiming ultimately at restoring the natural properties of rivers and streams.
b) increase the efficiency of measures aimed at water protection, under the mutual obligation of reporting regularly on the progress achieved in respect of a) and b).
Article 3
1) The Parties to the Convention will institute in their own countries an investigation into changes in the quality and the properties of the Tisza and its tributaries within a certain area from the national frontier, to monitor certain properties using convened indices.
2) The Parties to the Convention will define in common what indices to monitor in which areas. The list of indices and areas may later on be revised and extended.
3) The Parties to the Convention will, within two years, from the day when the Convention becomes effective and based on the existing bilateral agreements, develop and consolidate the programme of monitoring the properties in the convened areas, the method of comparing and analysing the collected data and a system of evaluating the changes in water purity. The programme shall define details of the places, time and intervals of sampling, of the method of analysing the data, and the ways and means of evaluating actual levels of, and defining trends in, water purity.
Article 4
The Parties to the Convention will, within two years from starting observations as per Article 3 hereof, begin with determining water purity values for the areas involved to proceed at regular intervals to a collation, within the frame of bi- or trilateral agreements, with the neighbouring countries, i.e. with the Parties to the Convention. The collated values are considered to represent the actual purity of the Tisza and its tributaries in the border areas.
Article 5
The Parties to the Convention will, within the frame of their own national water protection programmes and according to their own technical and economical resources, take steps to combat pollution of the Tisza and its tributaries in the border areas as seems appropriate from the actual water purity level.
Article 6
1) In case of any unforeseen event of importance, natural catastrophe or other calamity leading to pollution of the Tisza and/or its tributaries in the border areas, the Party concerned will take steps to eliminate the pollution and its possible effects, and information will be passed to the other Parties to the Convention who might be involved in the consequences of the event.
2) Upon request from the governmental bodies of the Party in whose country the event has occurred the other Parties to the Convention will, under a specific contract, take concerted action to eliminate the pollution and/or its consequences.
3) The governmental bodies of the countries involved will discuss and define the ways and means of mutual information on emergencies as detailed in 6.1. above.
Article 7
The parties to the Convention will, in the context of bilateral, or multilateral, Technical and Scientific Cooperation Projects on Water Management,
a) proceed to enact mutual exchanges of information and experiences, and consultations, regarding sewage treatment, water protection and water purity index development,
b) cooperation in the work to be done with regard to forecasts of water purity in the Tisza and its tributaries,
c) exploit the results obtained from this cooperation in their own respective programmes to combat water pollution.
Article 8
Data and information obtained while carrying out this Convention will not be made available to third parties without prior consent from all Parties to the Convention.
Article 9
1) To discuss and resolve questions arising from and in connection with the Convention or its implementation, the governmental bodies of the countries involved will meet at least once every two years or sooner, if the need arises, upon request of any Party.
2) Items left undecided by such a meeting will be submitted to a conference at governmental level, to be convened upon request of any Party to the Convention. This conference shall decide by consensus.
3) Delegates to the Conference at governmental level will travel and stay at the expense of their own governments, but the costs of the conference will be borne by the host country. Article 10
There may arise questions in the course of carrying this Convention to good ends which, if need be, shall be put to the governmental bodies for decision.
Article 11
This Convention shall in no way interfere with any other obligations arising from other international agreements or from membership in any international association of the Parties to it.
Article 12
The Parties to the Convention will take measures to ensure that the goals defined in this Convention should be attained in an efficient manner.
