Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization

Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization

 

ARTICLE I
Definitions

“Executive Secretary” means the chief executive and legal representative of the
Organization;

“Committee”means a committee established in accordance with Articles VIII.1 and
VI.1(k).

“Chief Executive Officer”means the Principal Secretary or the Permanent
Secretary, as the case may be,

Words importing the masculine gender include the feminine gender.

ARTICLE II
Establishment, objectives, functions and responsibilities

1. The Contracting Parties hereby establish the Lake Victoria Fisheries
Organization (hereinafter referred to as “the Organization”).

2. The objectives of the Organization shall be to foster cooperation among the
Contracting Parties, harmonize national measures for the sustainable utilization
of the living resources of the Lake and to develop and adopt conservation and
management measures.

3. To achieve these objectives, the Organization shall have the function and
responsibility to:

a) promote the proper management and optimum utilization of the fisheries and
other resources of the Lake;

b) enhance capacity building of existing institutions and develop additional
institutions dedicated to, or likely to contribute to, the purposes of this
Convention in cooperation with existing institutions established in or by the
Contracting Parties and with such international, regional or nongovernmental
organizations as may be appropriate;

c) provide a forum for discussion of the impacts of initiatives dealing with the
environment and water quality in the Lake basin and maintain a strong liaison
with the existing bodies and programs;

d) provide for the conduct of research concerning the waters of Lake Victoria,
including without limitation the quality of such waters, in particular with
respect to supporting the living resources of the Lake and the nature, extent
and pathways of its pollution and other forms of environmental degradation;
e) encourage, recommend, coordinate and, as appropriate, undertake training and
extension activities in all aspects of fisheries;

f) consider and advise on the effects of the direct or indirect introduction of
any non-indigenous aquatic animals or plants into the waters of Lake Victoria or
its tributaries and to adopt measures regarding the introduction, monitoring,
control or elimination of any such animals or plants;

g) serve as a clearing-house and data bank for information on Lake Victoria
fisheries and promote the dissemination of information, without prejudice to
industrial property rights, by any appropriate form of publication;

h) in respect of any or all of the foregoing, adopt budgets, seek funding,
formulate plans for financial management and allocate funds to activities of the
Organization, or to such activities of the Contracting Parties as it may
determine to be in furtherance of the purposes of this Convention;

i) undertake such other functions as it may determine to be necessary or
desirable in order to achieve the purposes of this Convention.

ARTICLE III
Seat

1. The seat of the Organization shall be in the Republic of Uganda. The Host
State undertakes to accord, in respect of the Organization, its staff and its
property, the privileges, immunities and facilities set out in the Annex to this
Convention.

2. The Council of Ministers may authorize the establishment of centres of the
Organization in the territory of any of the Contracting Parties and may
authorize the Organization to enter into agreements for this purpose with the
State on whose territory such centres are to be located. Any agreement concluded
with such a host State shall include all the provisions contained in Part A of
the Headquarters Agreement annexed to this Convention.

ARTICLE IV
The organs of the Organization

1. The organs of the Organization are:

a) the Council of Ministers;

b) the Executive Committee;

c) the Fisheries Management Committee, the Scientific Committee, and such other
committees, sub-committees and working groups as may be established;

d) the Permanent Secretariat.

2. The Council of Ministers may set up such committees or other subsidiary
bodies as it may deem necessary for the performance of the functions of the
Organization.

3. The Executive Committee may set up such sub-committees or working groups as
it may deem necessary for the work of the committees or the Executive Committee
itself.

ARTICLE V
The Council of Ministers

1. The supreme body of the Organization shall be the Council of Ministers
consisting of the Ministers responsible for fisheries of the Contracting Parties
or their authorized representatives.

2. Each Contracting Party shall endeavour to ensure that the heads of the
departments responsible for fisheries management, fisheries research,
environment, industry and tourism are represented in its delegation.

3. The Council of Ministers shall elect a Chairman, who shall serve for a
two-year term. The chairmanship of the Council of Ministers shall rotate every
two years among the members of the Council in accordance with the alphabetical
order of the names of the Contracting Parties.

4. The Council of Ministers shall hold a regular session once every two years at
such time and place as it shall determine. The Council of Ministers may hold
special sessions if it so decides or at the request of any Contracting Party.
The Chairman shall inform the Contracting Parties of the date and place of any
session. No session of the Council of Ministers shall take place unless all
three Ministers or their authorized representatives are present.

5. The Council of Ministers shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure. As far as
possible decisions of the Council of Ministers will be taken by consensus. Where
it is not possible to reach consensus the matter will be decided by majority
vote. Each Contracting Party shall have one vote.

ARTICLE VI
Functions of the Council of Ministers

1. The functions of the Council of Ministers shall be:

a) to review reports and recommendations submitted to it by the
Executive Committee concerning the situation of Lake Victoria fisheries and, on
this basis, to determine the policy of the Organization and approve its
programme of work and its budget;

b) to determine the contributions of the Member States as provided for in
Article XIV.1;

c) to establish general standards and guidelines for the management of the
Organization;

d) to review the report on the work of the Organization and the audited accounts
referred to in Article IX.3(a); e) to adopt the Financial Regulations of the Organization;

f) to adopt the Rules governing the appointment of the Executive Secretary and
the Deputy Executive Secretary;

g) to appoint the Executive Secretary of the Organization in accordance with
Article IX.1;

h) to adopt amendments to this Convention in accordance with Article XX.2;

i) to establish centres of the Organization;

j) to approve formal agreements or memoranda of understanding with other
organizations or institutions referred to in Article XVIII.1 and with
governments, including any proposals for agreements to be concluded between the
Organization and the States in which the seat of the Organization or the centres
provided for in sub-paragraph (i) above are situated;

k) to set up, under its supervision, such committees or other subsidiary bodies
as it may deem appropriate for the performance of the functions of the
Organization;

l) to establish posts and determine the conditions of employment of the staff
and adopt or amend the Staff Regulations of the Organization;

m) to adopt management and conservation measures, and to take such decisions as
it may deem appropriate for the conservation and management of Lake Victoria’s
fisheries;

n) to perform such other functions as have been entrusted to it by this
Convention or as may be appropriate to achieve the Organization’s objectives.

2. The Council of Ministers may, within the limits determined by it, delegate
any matter falling within its functions to the Executive Committee with the
exception, however, of the functions specified in subparagraphs a), b), g) and
h) of paragraph 1 above.

 

Conclusion

Notes

See Also

References and Further Reading

About the Author/s and Reviewer/s

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization 2, Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization 3, Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization 4, Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization 5, International Conventions from 1991, Marine and Coastal conventions.


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