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Text of the APFIC Agreement
ASIA-PACIFIC FISHERY COMMISSION (APFIC)
Agreement as amended by the Commission at its Seventeenth, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Sessions in 1976, 1993 and 1996 and approved by the FAO Council at its Seventy-Second, Hundred and Seventh and Hundred and Twelfth Sessions in 1977, 1994 and 1997.
AGREEMENT - PREAMBLE
ARTICLE I - The Commission
2. The Members of the Commission shall be such Member Nations and Associate Members of the Organization and such non-member States of the Organization as are Members of the United Nations, or any of its Specialized Agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency that accept this Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article X thereof. As regards Associate Members, this Agreement shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article XIV-5 of the Constitution and Rule XXI-3 of the General Rules of the Organization be submitted by the Organization to the authority having responsibility for the international relations of such Associate Members.
ARTICLE II - Organization
1. Each Member shall be represented at sessions of the Commission by a single delegate, who may be accompanied by an alternate and by experts and advisers. Participation in sessions of the Commission by alternates, experts and advisers shall not entail the right to vote, except in the place of a delegate during his absence.
2. Each Member shall have one vote. Decisions of the Commission shall be taken by a majority of the votes cast, except when a greater majority is required by this Agreement or by the Rules governing the procedure of the Commission. A majority of the total membership of the Commission shall constitute a quorum.
3. The Commission shall at each regular session elect a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman who shall serve until the end of the next regular session.
4. The Chairman of the Commission in consultation with the Director-General of the Organization shall convene a regular session of the Commission at least once in every two years unless otherwise directed by a majority of the Members. The site and date of all sessions shall be determined by the Commission in consultation with the Director-General of the Organization.
5. The seat of the Commission shall be at the seat of the Regional Office of the Organization most conveniently situated within the area defined in Article VI.
6. The Organization shall provide the Secretariat for the Commission and the Director-General shall appoint its Secretary, who shall be administratively responsible to him.
7. The Commission may, by a two-thirds majority of its membership, adopt and amend its own Rules of Procedure provided that such Rules of Procedure or the amendments thereto are not inconsistent with this Agreement or with the Constitution of the Organization.
ARTICLE III - Committees and Working Parties
2. The Commission may in addition establish temporary, special or standing committees to study and report on matters pertaining to the purpose of the Commission.
3. The Commission may establish working parties to study and recommend on specific technical problems. These working parties shall be convened by the Director-General of the Organization at such times and places as are in accordance with the objectives for which they were established.
4. The establishment of committees and working parties referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 above shall be subject to the availability of the necessary funds in the relevant chapter of the approved budget of the Organization; the determination of such availability shall be made by the Director-General. Before taking any decision involving expenditures in connexion with the establishment of committees and working parties, the Commission shall have before it a report from the Director-General on the administrative and financial implications thereof.
ARTICLE IV - Functions
The purpose of the Commission shall be to promote the full and proper utilization of living aquatic resources by the development and management of fishing and culture operations and by the development of related processing and marketing activities in conformity with the objectives of its Members, and to these ends it shall have the following functions and responsibilities:
(a) to keep under review the state of these resources and of the industries based on them;
(b) to formulate and recommend measures and to initiate and carry out programmes or projects to:
(i) increase the efficiency and sustainable productivity of fisheries and aquaculture;
(ii) conserve and manage resources;
(iii) protect resources from pollution;
(c) to keep under review the economic and social aspects of fishing and aquaculture industries and recommend measures aimed at improving the living and working conditions of fishermen and other workers in these industries and otherwise at improving the contribution of each fishery to social and economic goals;
(d) to promote programmes for mariculture and coastal fisheries enhancement;
(e) to encourage, recommend, coordinate and, as appropriate, undertake training and extension activities in all aspects of fisheries;
(f) to encourage, recommend, coordinate and undertake, as appropriate, research and development activities in all aspects of fisheries;
(g) to assemble, publish or otherwise disseminate information regarding the living aquatic resources and fisheries based on these resources;
(h) to carry out such other activities as may be necessary for the Commission to achieve its purpose as defined above.
ARTICLE V - Reports
ARTICLE VI - Area
ARTICLE VII - Cooperation with International Bodies
ARTICLE VIII - Expenses
1. The expenses of delegates and their alternates, experts and advisers occasioned by attendance at sessions of the Commission and the expenses of representatives on committees or working parties established in accordance with Article III of this Agreement shall be determined and paid by their respective governments.
2. The expenses of the Secretariat, including publications and communications, and of the Chairman, Vice- Chairman and the immediately retired Chairman of the Commission and of the other two members of the Executive Committee when performing duties connected with the Commission's work during intervals between its sessions, shall be determined and paid by the Organization within the limits of a biennial budget prepared and approved in accordance with the Constitution, the General Rules and Financial Regulations of the Organization.
3. The expenses of research or development projects undertaken by individual Members of the Commission, whether independently or upon the recommendation of the Commission, shall be determined and paid by their respective governments.
4. The expenses incurred in connexion with activities undertaken in accordance with the provisions of Article IV, paragraphs (e) and (f), unless otherwise available shall be determined and paid by the Members in the form and proportion to which they shall mutually agree. Cooperative projects shall be submitted to the Council of the Organization prior to implementation. Contributions for cooperative projects shall be paid into a trust fund to be established by the Organization and shall be administered by the Organization in accordance with the Financial Regulations and Rules of the Organization.
5. The expenses of experts invited, with the concurrence of the Director-General, to attend meetings of the Commission, committees or working parties in their individual capacity shall be borne by the budget of the Organization.
ARTICLE IX - Amendments
ARTICLE X - Acceptance
2. The Commission may, by a two-thirds majority of its membership, admit to membership such other States that are Members of the United Nations, of any of its Specialized Agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency as have submitted an application for membership and a declaration made in a formal instrument that they accept this Agreement as in force at the time of admission. Participation by such States in the activities of the Commission shall be contingent upon the assumption of a proportionate share in the expenses of the Secretariat, as determined by the Organization.
3. Acceptance of this Agreement by any Member Nation or Associate Member of the Organization shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of acceptance with the Director-General of the Organization and shall take effect on receipt of such instrument by the Director-General.
4. Acceptance of this Agreement by non-member nations of the Organization shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of acceptance with the Director-General of the Organization. Membership shall become effective on the date on which the Commission approves the application for membership, in conformity with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article.
5. The Director-General of the Organization shall inform all Members of the Commission, all Member Nations of the Organization and the Secretary-General of the United Nations of all acceptances that have become effective.
6. Acceptance of this Agreement may be made subject to reservations, which shall become effective only upon unanimous approval by the Members of the Commission. The Director-General of the Organization shall notify forthwith all Members of the Commission of any reservations. Members of the Commission not having replied within three months from the date of the notification shall be deemed to have accepted the reservation. Failing such approval the nation making the reservation shall not become a party to this Agreement.
ARTICLE XI - Entry into Force
ARTICLE XII - Territorial Application
ARTICLE XIII - Withdrawal
2. A Member of the Commission may give notice of withdrawal with respect to one or more of the territories for the international relations of which it is responsible. When a Member gives notice of its own withdrawal from the Commission, it shall state to which territory or territories the withdrawal is to apply. In the absence of such a declaration, the withdrawal shall be deemed to apply to all the territories for the international relations of which the Member of the Commission is responsible, except that such withdrawal shall not be deemed to apply to an Associate Member.
3. Any Member of the Commission that gives notice of withdrawal from the Organization shall be deemed to have simultaneously withdrawn from the Commission and this withdrawal shall be deemed to apply to all the territories for the international relations of which the Member concerned is responsible, except that such withdrawal shall not be deemed to apply to an Associate Member.