Amendments (via Exchanges of letters) to the Convention On The Protection Of The Rhine Against Pollution By Chlorides
Source: http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201404/volume-1404-I-..., 20130629
The Convention and the exchanges of letters constituting an amendment entered into force on 5 July 1985, the date of receipt by the Government of Switzerland of the last of the notifications in respect of the said exchanges of letters. According to article 14 of the Convention, it should have entered into force on the first day of the second month following receipt by the Government of Switzerland of the last of the notifications by which the Parties confirmed the completion of the required internal procedures. However, France did not immediately approve the Convention in its version of 3 December 1976, but proposed to the other Parties to modify the Convention. The amendment thus proposed was accepted by exchanges of letters between the Parties with the understanding that it would enter into force when all the Contracting Parties had notified the Government of Switzerland of the completion of the required internal procedures for the entry into force of the said exchanges of letters.
Dates of exchanged letters: at Neuilly on 29 April 1983, at Bonn on 4 May 1983, at The Hague on 4 May 1983, at Luxembourg on 13 May 1983 and at Berne on 13 May 1983.
The notifications in question were effected as follows:
Country......Date of notification for Convention......Date of notification for exchange of letters
France......1984......2......2......1984......2......2
Germany, Federal Republic of......1978......12......7......1985......2......1
Luxembourg......1978......5......3......1984......6......12
Netherlands......1978......9......18......1985......7......5
Switzerland......1977......11......28......1983......5......13
EXCHANGES OF LETTERS
Ia
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE, ATTACHED TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
Neuilly, 29 April 1983
Sir,
With reference to the discussions at the sixth ministerial conference of 17 November 1981, and to the deliberations which have been held since that occasion within the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine against Pollution with a view to updating the Convention on the Protection of the Rhine against Pollution by Chlorides, signed at Bonn on 3 December 1976, I have the honour, on behalf of my Government, to propose the following:
1. Bearing in mind the time periods specified in article 2, paragraph 2, annex I of the Convention may be changed by agreement of the Contracting Parties in the light of the conclusions presented by the scientific committee, whose establishment was announced by the French Party during the sixth ministerial conference, in its report of July 1982, and any conclusions it may draw in future from the additional studies it has recommended. These changes should not entail any nuisance, inconvenience or other consequences for the territory of each of the Contracting Parties.
2. In view of the delay in the entry into force of the Convention, the second phase, which pursuant to article 2, paragraph 3 of the Convention is due to begin on 1 January 1980, will begin within two years following the onset of the initial phase.
I should be grateful if you would let me know if the foregoing provisions are acceptable to your Government. In such case, this letter and your reply and the identical letters exchanged between the French Government and the three other Governments which are signatories to the Convention shall constitute an Agreement among the five Governments concerned. This Agreement shall be deposited with the Government of the Swiss Confederation by the French Government. It shall enter into force when all the Governments which are signatories to the Convention have notified the Government of the Swiss Confederation of the completion of the procedures necessary for the entry into force of the provisions of this letter and of the identical letters exchanged between the French Government and the other signatory Governments, and when the Convention itself has entered into force.
This Agreement may be denounced under the conditions provided for in article 15 of the Convention. If this Agreement is denounced, the Convention shall also be deemed to be denounced.
Accept, Sir, etc.
[Signed]
HUGUETTE BOUCHARDEAU
Mr. Friedrich Zimmermann
Minister of the Interior
Bonn
IIa
FEDERAL MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR
Bonn, 4 May 1983
Madam,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 29 April 1983 in which you propose, on behalf of your Government, an updating of the Convention on the Protection of the Rhine against Pollution by Chlorides dated 3 December 1976, by means of an exchange of identical letters between the Government of the French Republic and the other Governments which are signatories to the Convention.
Your letter, translated into German, reads as follows:
[See letter la]
I have the honour to inform you that the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany accepts the proposals contained in your letter. Your letter and this reply, together with the identical letters exchanged between the French Government and the three other Governments which are signatories to the Convention, shall constitute an Agreement among the Governments which are signatories to the Convention on the Protection of the Rhine against Pollution by Chlorides. This Agreement shall enter into force pursuant to the stipulations in your letter and shall be applicable also to Land Berlin, unless the Government of the French Republic receives notice of a state ment to the contrary from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany within three months following this exchange of letters.
Accept, Madam, etc.
[Signed]
Dr. FRIEDRICH ZIMMERMANN
The Secretary of State for the Environment and Quality of Life
attached to the Office of the Prime Minister Mrs. Huguette Bouchardeau
Paris
Ib
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE,
ATTACHED TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
Neuilly, 29 April 1983
Sir,
[See letter /a]
Accept, Sir, etc.
[Signed]
HUGUETTE BOUCHARDEAU
Mr. W. F. van Eekelen
Minister for Foreign Affairs
IIb
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
THE HAGUE
The Hague, 4 May 1983
Madam,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 29 April 1983, which reads as follows:
[See letter Ib]
I have the honour to inform you that the provisions contained in your letter are acceptable to the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and that your letter together with this reply and the identical letters exchanged between the French Government and the three other Governments which are signatories to the Convention shall constitute an Agreement among the five Governments concerned. This Agreement shall be deposited with the Government of the Swiss Confederation and shall enter into force when all the Governments which are signatories to the Convention have notified the Government of the Swiss Confederation of the completion of the procedures necessary for the entry into force of the provisions of this letter and of the identical letters exchanged between the French Government and the other signatory Governments, and when the Convention itself has entered into force.
Accept, Madam, etc.
[Signed]
W. F. VAN EEKELEN
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Her Excellency Mrs. Huguette Bouchardeau
Secretary of State attached to the Office of the Prime Minister
Paris
Ic
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE,
ATTACHED TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
Neuilly, 29 April 1983
Sir,
[See letter /a]
Accept, Sir, etc.
[Signed]
HUGUETTE BOUCHARDEAU
Mr. J. Barthel
Minister of the Environment
Luxembourg
IIc
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, VITICULTURE, AND WATER AND FORESTS
Luxembourg, 13 May 1983
No. 753/83
Annexes
Madam,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 29 April 1983, transmitted by the Embassy of France in Luxembourg on 4 May 1983, concerning the updating of the Convention on the Protection of the Rhine against Pollution by Chlorides, signed at Bonn on 3 December 1976, which letter reads as follows:
[See letter Ic]
I have the honour to inform you that the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg accepts these proposals.
Accept, Madam, etc.
[Signed]
ERNEST MUHLEN
Minister of Agriculture,
Viticulture, and Water and Forests
Mrs. Huguette Bouchardeau
Secretary of State for the Environment and Quality of Life
attached to the Office of the Prime Minister
Id
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE,
ATTACHED TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
Neuilly, 29 April 1983
Sir,
[See letter la]
Accept, Sir, etc.
[Signed]
HUGUETTE BOUCHARDEAU
Mr. Alfons Egli
Chief of the Federal Department of the Interior
Berne
IId
CHIEF OF THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Berne, 13 May 1983
Madam,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 29 April 1983 which reads as follows:
[See letter Id]
I have the honour to confirm that the Federal Council agrees to the foregoing. Accordingly, your letter and this reply and the identical letters exchanged between the French Government and the three other Governments which are signatories to the Convention shall constitute an Agreement among the five Governments concerned, which shall enter into force pursuant to the stipulations in your letter.
Accept, Madam, etc.
[Signed]
A. Eon
Mrs. Huguette Bouchardeau
Secretary of State for the Environment and Quality of Life
attached to the Office of the Prime Minister
Neuilly-sur-Seine
