Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents

 

Article 22

LIMITATIONS ON THE SUPPLY OF INFORMATION

1. The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the rights or
the obligations of Parties in accordance with their national
laws, regulations, administrative provisions or accepted legal
practices and applicable international regulations to
protect information related to personal data, industrial and
commercial secrecy, including intellectual property, or
national security.

2. If a Party nevertheless decides to supply such protected
information to another Party, the Party receiving such
protected information shall respect the confidentiality of
the information received and the conditions under which it is
supplied, and shall only use that information for the purposes
for which it was supplied.

Article 23

IMPLEMENTATION

The Parties shall report periodically on the implementation of
this
Convention.

Article 24

BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS

1. The Parties may, in order to implement their obligations under
this Convention, continue existing or enter into new bilateral
or multilateral agreements or other arrangements.

2. The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the right o
f Parties to take, by bilateral or multilateral agreement
where appropriate, more stringent measures than those required by
this Convention.

Article 25

STATUS OF ANNEXES

The Annexes to this Convention form an integral part of
the Convention.

Article 26

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONVENTION

1. Any Party may propose amendments to this Convention.

2. The text of any proposed amendment to this Convention shall
be submitted in writing to the Executive Secretary of the
Economic Commission for Europe, who shall circulate it to all
Parties. The Conference of the Parties shall discuss
roposed amendments at its next annual meeting, provided that
such proposals have been circulated to the Parties by the
Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe at
least ninety days in advance.

3. For amendments to this Convention — other than those to
Annex I, for which the procedure is described in paragraph 4 of
this Article:

(a) Amendments shall be adopted by consensus of the Parties
present at the meeting and shall be submitted by the Depositary
to all Parties for ratification, acceptance or approval;

(b) Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval of
amendments shall be deposited with the Depositary. Amendments
adopted in accordance with this Article shall enter into force
for Parties that have accepted them on the ninetieth day following
the day of receipt by the Depositary of the sixteenth instrument
of ratification, acceptance or approval;

(c) Thereafter, amendments shall enter into force for any other
Party on the ninetieth day after that Party deposits its instruments
of ratification, acceptance or approval of the amendments.

4. For amendments to Annex I:

(a) The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement
by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted and
no agreement reached, the amendments shall, as a last resort, be
adopted by a nine-tenths majority vote of the Parties present and
voting at the meeting. If adopted by the Conference of the Parties,
the amendments shall be communicated to the Parties and recommended
for approval;

(b) On the expiry of twelve months from the date of
their communication by the Executive Secretary of the
Economic Commission for Europe, the amendments to Annex I shall
become effective for those Parties to this Convention which have
not submitted a notification in accordance with the provisions
of paragraph 4(c) of this Article, provided that at least
sixteen Parties have not submitted such
a notification;

(c) Any Party that is unable to approve an amendment to Annex I
of this Convention shall so notify the Executive Secretary of
the Economic Commission for Europe in writing within twelve months
from the date of the communication of the adoption. The
Executive Secretary shall without delay notify all Parties of any
such notification received. A Party may at any time substitute
an acceptance for its previous notification and the amendment to
Annex I shall thereupon enter into force for that Party.

(d) For the purpose of this paragraph “Parties present and
voting”means Parties present and casting an affirmative or
negative vote.

Article 27

SIGNATURE

This Convention shall be open for signature at Helsinki from 17
to 18 March 1992 inclusive, and thereafter at United
Nations Headquarters in New York until 18 September 1992, by
States members of the Economic Commission for Europe, as well as
States having consultative status with the Economic Commission
for Europe pursuant to paragraph 8 of Economic and Social
Council resolution 36 (IV)of 28 March 1947, and by regional
economic integration organizations constituted by sovereign
States members of the Economic Commission for Europe to which
their member States have transferred competence in respect of
matters governed by this Convention, including the competence to
enter into Treaties in respect of these matters.

Article 28

DEPOSITARY

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall act
as the Depositary of this Convention.

Article 29

RATIFICATION, ACCEPTANCE, APPROVAL AND ACCESSION

1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance
or approval by the signatory States and regional economic
integration organizations referred to in Article 27.

2. This Convention shall be open for accession by the States
and organizations referred to in Article 27.

3. Any organization referred to in Article 27 which becomes Party
to this Convention without any of its member States being a Party
shall be bound by all the obligations under this Convention. In
the case of such organizations, one or more of whose member States
is a Party to this Convention, the organization and its member
States shall decide on their respective responsibilities for the
performance of their obligations under this Convention. In such
cases, the organization and the member States shall not be entitled
to exercise rights under this Convention concurrently.

4. In their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval
or accession, the regional economic integration organizations
referred to in Article 27 shall declare the extent of their
competence with respect to the matters governed by this
Convention. These organizations shall also inform the Depositary of
any substantial modification to the extent of their
competence.

Article 30

ENTRY INTO FORCE

1. This Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day
after the date of deposit of the sixteenth instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, any
instrument deposited by an organization referred to in Article 27
shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by States
members of such an organization.

3. For each State or organization referred to in Article 27
which ratifies, accepts or approves this Convention or accedes
thereto after the deposit of the sixteenth instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, this Convention
shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of
deposit by such State or organization of its instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

Article 31

WITHDRAWAL

1. At any time after three years from the date on which this
Convention has come into force with respect to a Party, that
Party may withdraw from this Convention by giving written
notification to the Depositary. Any such withdrawal shall take
effect on the ninetieth day after the date of the receipt of
the notification by the Depositary.

2. Any such withdrawal shall not affect the application of
Article 4 to an activity in respect of which a notification has
been made pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 1, or a request
for discussions has been made pursuant to Article 4,
paragraph 2.

Article 32

AUTHENTIC TEXTS

The original of this Convention, of which the English, French
and Russian texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized
thereto, have signed this Convention.

DONE at Helsinki, this seventeenth day of March one thousand
nine hundred and ninety-two.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, Treaties.