1. At the first session in each biennium, the Committee shall elect a Chairman, a first
Vice-Chairman and four other Vice-Chairmen from among the representatives of its Members,
who shall remain in office until the election of a new Chairman and new Vice-Chairmen and
who will act as a Steering Committee during sessions.
2. The Chairman, or in his absence the first Vice-Chairman, shall preside at meetings of
the Committee and exercise such other functions as may be required to facilitate its work.
In the event of the Chairman and the first Vice-Chairman not being able to preside at a
meeting, the Committee shall appoint one of the other Vice-Chairmen or, failing these, a
representative of its Members to take the chair.
3. The Director-General of the Organization shall appoint a secretary, who shall perform such duties as the work of the Committee may require and prepare the records of the proceedings of the Committee.
1 The Committee shall hold sessions as provided in Rule XXX.4 and 5 of the
General Rules of the Organization.
2. Any number of separate meetings may be held during each session of the Committee.
3. The sessions of the Committee shall in the years immediately following a regular
session of the Conference be held at the seat of the Organization; in other years they may
be held in another place in
pursuance of a decision taken by the Committee in consultation with the Director-General.
4. Notice of the date and place of each session shall normally be communicated at least
two months in advance of the session to all Member Nations and Associate Members of the
Organization, and to such non member States and international organizations as may have
been invited to attend the session.
5. Each Member of the Committee may appoint alternates and advisers to its representative
on the Committee.
6. Presence of representatives of a majority of the Members of the Committee shall
constitute a quorum for any formal action by the Committee.
1. Participation of international organizations in an observer capacity in
the work of the Committee shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Constitution
and the General Rules of the Organization, as well as by the General Rules of the
Organization on relations with international organizations.
2. Attendance by non member States of the Organization at sessions of the Committee shall
be governed by the principles relating to the granting of observer status to nations
adopted by the Conference.
3. (a) Meetings of the Committee shall be held in public, unless the Committee decides to
meet in private for discussion of any items on its agenda.
(b) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (c) below, any Member Nation not represented
on the Committee, any Associate Member or any non member State invited to attend in an
observer capacity a session of the Committee may submit memoranda and participate without
vote in any discussion at a public or private meeting of the Committee.
(c) In exceptional circumstances, the Committee may decide to restrict attendance at
private meetings to the representative or observer of each Member Nation of the
Organization.
1. The Director-General, in consultation with the Chairman of the
Committee, shall prepare a provisional agenda and shall normally circulate it at least two
months in advance of the session to all Member Nations and Associate Members of the
Organization and to all non member States and international organizations invited to
attend the session.
2. All Member Nations of the Organization and Associate Members acting within the limits
of their status may request the Director-General normally not less than 30 days before the
proposed date of the session to insert an item in the provisional agenda. The
Director-General shall thereupon circulate the proposed item to all Members of the
Committee, together with any necessary papers.
3. The first item on the provisional agenda shall be the adoption of the agenda. The
Committee in session may by general consent amend the agenda by the deletion, addition or
modification of any item, provided that no matter referred to it by the Council or on the
request of the Conference be omitted from the agenda.
4. Documents not already circulated shall be dispatched with the provisional agenda, or as
soon as possible thereafter.
1. Each Member of the Committee shall have one vote.
2. The decisions of the Committee shall be ascertained by the Chairman, who shall resort,
upon the request of one or more Members, to a vote, in which case the pertinent provisions
of Rule XII of the General Rules of the Organization shall apply mutatis mutandis.
1. At each session, the Committee shall approve a report to the Council embodying
its views, recommendations and decisions, including when requested a statement of minority
views. Any recommendations adopted by the Committee which affect the programme or finances
of the Organization shall be reported to the Council with the comments of the appropriate
subsidiary committees of the Council.
2. Reports of sessions shall be circulated to all Member Nations and Associate Members of
the Organization and to non member States invited to attend the session, as well as to
interested international organizations entitled to be represented at the session.
3. The comments of the Committee on the report of any of its subsidiary bodies and, if one
or more Members of the Committee so request, the views of those Members shall be
incorporated into the Committee's report. If any Member so requests, this part of the
Committee's report shall be circulated as soon as possible by the Director-General to the
States or international organizations which normally receive the reports of the subsidiary
body in question. The Committee may also request the Director-General, in transmitting the
report and records of its proceedings to Members, to call particular attention to its
views and comments on the report of any of its subsidiary bodies.
4. The Committee shall determine the procedures in regard to press communiqués concerning
its activities.
1. In accordance with the provisions of Rule XXX.10 of the General Rules of the
Organization, the Committee may, when necessary, establish subcommittees, subsidiary
working parties or study groups, subject to the necessary funds being available in the
relevant chapter of the approved budget of the Organization, and may include in the
membership of such subcommittees, subsidiary working parties or study groups Member
Nations that are not Members of the Committee and Associate Members. The membership of
such subcommittees, subsidiary working parties and study groups established by the
Committee may include States which, while not Member Nations or Associate Members of the
Organization, are members of the United Nations, any of its specialized agencies or the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
2. Before taking any decision involving expenditure in connection with the establishment
of subsidiary bodies, the Committee shall have before it a report from the
Director-General on the administrative and financial implications thereof.
3. The Committee shall determine the terms of reference of its subsidiary bodies, who
shall report to the Committee. The reports of the subsidiary bodies shall be made
available for information to all members of the subsidiary bodies concerned, all Member
Nations and Associate Members of the Organization, non member States invited to the
sessions of the subsidiary bodies, and interested international organizations entitled to
attend such sessions.
The Committee may, by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, amend its Rules of
Procedure, provided that such amendment is consistent with the Constitution and the
General Rules of the Organization. No proposal for the amendment of these Rules shall be
included in the agenda of any session of the Committee unless notice thereof has been
dispatched by the Director-General to Members of the Committee at least 30 days before the
opening of the session.
