Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area

Article VII
Scientific Committee

1. A Scientific Committee, comprising persons qualified as experts in cetacean
conservation science, shall be established as an advisory body to the Meeting of
the Parties. The Meeting of the Parties will entrust the functions of the
Scientific Committee to an existing organization in the Agreement area that
assures geographically-balanced representation.

2. Meetings of the Scientific Committee shall be convened by the Agreement
secretariat at the request of the Meeting of the Parties.

3. The Scientific Committee shall:

a) provide advice to the Meeting of the Parties on scientific and technical
matters having a bearing on the implementation of the Agreement, and to
individual Parties between sessions, as appropriate, through the Co-ordination
unit of the subregion concerned;

b) advise on the guidelines as provided for in Article IV, paragraph 3, assess
the reviews prepared in accordance with Annex 2 to this Agreement and formulate
recommendations to the Meeting of the Parties relating to their development,
contents and implementation;

c) conduct scientific assessments of the conservation status of cetacean
populations;

d) advise on the development and co-ordination of international research and
monitoring programmes, and make recommendations to the Meeting of the Parties
concerning further research to be carried out;

e) facilitate the exchange of scientific information and of conservation
techniques;

f) prepare for each session of the Meeting of the Parties a report of its
activities which shall be submitted to the Agreement secretariat not less than
one hundred and twenty days before the session of the Meeting of the Parties and
circulated forthwith by the Agreement secretariat to all Parties;

g) render timely advice on the exceptions of which it has been informed pursuant
to Article II, paragraph 2; and

h) carry out, as may be necessary, other tasks referred to it by the Meeting of
the Parties.

4. The Scientific Committee, in consultation with the Bureau and the respective
Co-ordination units, may establish working groups as may be necessary to deal
with specific tasks. The Meeting of the Parties shall agree a fixed budget
allocation for this purpose.

Article VIII
Communication and Reporting

Each Party shall:

a) designate a focal point for this Agreement, and shall communicate without
delay the focal point’s name, address and telecommunication numbers to the
Agreement secretariat, for prompt circulation to the other Parties and to the
Co-ordination units; and

b) prepare for each ordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties, beginning
with the second session, a report on its implementation of the Agreement with
particular reference to the conservation measures and scientific research and
monitoring it has undertaken. The format of such reports shall be determined by
the first session of the Meeting of the Parties and reviewed as may be necessary
at any subsequent session. Each report shall be submitted to the Agreement
secretariat not less than one hundred and twenty days before the opening of the
session of the Meeting of the Parties for which it has been prepared, and
copies shall be circulated forthwith to the other Parties by the Agreement
secretariat.

Article IX
Financial Arrangements

1. The scale of contributions to the budget of this Agreement shall be
determined by the Meeting of the Parties at its first session. No regional
economic integration organization shall be required to contribute more than 2.5
per cent of the administrative costs.

2. Decisions relating to the budget and any changes to the scale of
contributions that may be found necessary shall be adopted by the Meeting of the
Parties by consensus.

3. The Meeting of the Parties may establish a supplementary conservation fund
from voluntary contributions of Parties or from any other source in order to
increase the funds available for monitoring, research, training and projects
relating to the conservation of cetaceans.

4. Parties are also encouraged to provide technical and financial
support on a bilateral or multilateral basis to assist Range States which are
developing countries or countries with economies in transition to implement the
provisions of this Agreement.

5. The Agreement secretariat shall undertake periodically a review of potential
mechanisms for providing additional resources, including funds and technical
assistance, for the implementation of this Agreement, and shall report its
findings to the Meeting of the Parties.

Article X
Amendment of the Agreement

1. This Agreement may be amended at any ordinary or extraordinary session of the
Meeting of the Parties.

2. Proposals for amendments to the Agreement may be made by any Party. The text
of any proposed amendment and the reasons for it shall be communicated to the
Agreement secretariat not less than one hundred and fifty days before the
opening of the session. The Agreement secretariat shall transmit copies
forthwith to the Parties. Any comments on the text by the Parties shall be
communicated to the Agreement secretariat not less than sixty days before the
opening of the session. The Secretariat shall communicate to the Parties, as
soon as possible after the last day for submission of comments, all comments
submitted by that day.

3. Any additional annex or any amendment to the Agreement other than an
amendment to its annexes shall be adopted by a two thirds majority of the
Parties present and voting and shall enter into force for those Parties which
have accepted it on the thirtieth day after the date on which two thirds of the
Parties to the Agreement at the date of the adoption of the additional annex or
amendment have deposited their instruments of acceptance with the Depositary.
For any Party that deposits an instrument of acceptance after the date on
which two thirds of the Parties have deposited their instruments of acceptance,
the additional annex or amendment shall enter into force on the thirtieth day
after the date on which it deposits its instrument of acceptance.

4. Any amendment to an annex to the Agreement shall be adopted by a two thirds
majority of the Parties present and voting and shall enter into force for all
Parties on the one hundred and fiftieth day after the date of its adoption by
the Meeting of the Parties, except for Parties that have entered a reservation
in accordance with paragraph 5 of this Article.

5. During the period of one hundred and fifty days provided for in paragraph 4
of this Article, any Party may by written notification to the Depositary enter a
reservation with respect to an amendment to an annex to the Agreement. Such
reservation may be withdrawn by written notification to the Depositary, and
thereupon the amendment shall enter into force for that Party on the thirtieth
day after the date of withdrawal of the reservation.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area.