Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic
ARTICLE 14
STATUS OF ANNEXES AND APPENDICES
1. The Annexes and Appendices form an integral part of the Convention.
2. The Appendices shall be of a scientific, technical or administrative
nature.
ARTICLE 15
AMENDMENT OF THE CONVENTION
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 27 and to
specific provisions applicable to the adoption or amendment of Annexes or
Appendices, an amendment to the Convention shall be governed by the present
Article.
2. Any Contracting Party may propose an amendment to the Convention. The
text of the proposed amendment shall be communicated to the Contracting
Parties by the Executive Secretary of the Commission at least six months
before the meeting of the Commission at which it is proposed for adoption.
The Executive Secretary shall also communicate the proposed amendment to
the signatories to the Convention for information.
3. The Commission shall adopt the amendment by unanimous vote of the
Contracting Parties.
4. The adopted amendment shall be submitted by the Depositary Government to
the Contracting Parties for ratification, acceptance or approval.
Ratification, acceptance or approval of the amendment shall be notified to
the Depositary Government in writing.
5. The amendment shall enter into force for those Contracting Parties which
have ratified, accepted or approved it on the thirtieth day after receipt
by the Depositary Government of notification of its ratification,
acceptance or approval by at least seven Contracting Parties. Thereafter
the amendment shall enter into force for any other Contracting Party on the
thirtieth day after that Contracting Party has deposited its instrument of
ratification, acceptance or approval of the amendment.
ARTICLE 16
ADOPTION OF ANNEXES
The provisions of Article 15 relating to the amendment of the Convention
shall also apply to the proposal, adoption and entry into force of an Annex
to the Convention, except that the Commission shall adopt any Annex
referred to in Article 7 by a three-quarters majority vote of the
Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE 17
AMENDMENT OF ANNEXES
1. The provisions of Article 15 relating to the amendment of the Convention
shall also apply to an amendment to an Annex to the Convention, except that
the Commission shall adopt amendments to any Annex referred to in Articles
3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 by a three-quarters majority vote of the Contracting
Parties bound by that Annex.
2. If the amendment of an Annex is related to an amendment to the
Convention, the amendment of the Annex shall be governed by the same
provisions as apply to the amendment to the Convention.
ARTICLE 18
ADOPTION OF APPENDICES
1. If a proposed Appendix is related to an amendment to the Convention or
an Annex, proposed for adoption in accordance with Article 15 or Article
17, the proposal, adoption and entry into force of that Appendix shall be
governed by the same provisions as apply to the proposal, adoption and
entry into force of that amendment.
2. If a proposed Appendix is related to an Annex to the Convention,
proposed for adoption in accordance with Article 16, the proposal, adoption
and entry into force of that Appendix shall be governed by the same
provisions as apply to the proposal, adoption and entry into force of that
Annex.
ARTICLE 19
AMENDMENT OF APPENDICES
1. Any Contracting Party bound by an Appendix may propose an amendment to
that Appendix. The text of the proposed amendment shall be communicated to
all Contracting Parties to the Convention by the Executive Secretary of the
Commission as provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 15.
2. The Commission shall adopt the amendment to an Appendix by a three-
quarters majority vote of the Contracting Parties bound by that Appendix.
3. An amendment to an Appendix shall enter into force on the expiry of a
period of two hundred days after its adoption for those Contracting Parties
which are bound by that Appendix and have not within that period notified
the Depositary Government in writing that they are unable to accept that
amendment, provided that at the expiry of that period three-quarters of the
Contracting Parties bound by that Appendix have either voted for the
amendment and not withdrawn their acceptance or have notified the
Depositary Government in writing that they are able to accept the
amendment.
4. A notification under paragraph 3 of this Article to the Depositary
Government may indicate that a Contracting Party is unable to accept the
amendment insofar as it relates to one or more of its dependent or
autonomous territories to which the Convention applies.
5. An amendment to an Appendix shall become binding on any other
Contracting Party bound by the Appendix which has notified the Depositary
Government in writing that it is able to accept the amendment from the
moment of that notification or after the expiry of a period of two hundred
days after the adoption of the amendment, whichever is later.
6. The Depositary Government shall without delay notify all Contracting
Parties of any such notification received.
7. If the amendment of an Appendix is related to an amendment to the
Convention or an Annex, the amendment of the Appendix shall be governed by
the same provisions as apply to the amendment to the Convention or that
Annex.
ARTICLE 20
RIGHT TO VOTE
1. Each Contracting Party shall have one vote in the Commission.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, the
European Economic Community and other regional economic integration
organisations, within the areas of their competence, are entitled to a
number of votes equal to the number of their member States which are
Contracting Parties to the Convention. Those organisations shall not
exercise their right to vote in cases where their Member States exercise
theirs and conversely.
ARTICLE 21
TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION
1. When pollution originating from a Contracting Party is likely to
prejudice the interests of one or more of the other Contracting Parties to
the Convention, the Contracting Parties concerned shall enter into
consultation, at the request of any one of them, with a view to negotiating
a cooperation agreement.
2. At the request of any Contracting Party concerned, the Commission shall
consider the question and may make recommendations with a view to reaching
a satisfactory solution.
3. An agreement referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may, inter alia,
define the areas to which it shall apply, the quality objectives to be
achieved and the methods for achieving these objectives, including methods
for the application of appropriate standards and the scientific and
technical information to be collected.
4. The Contracting Parties signatory to such an agreement shall, through
the medium of the Commission, inform the other Contracting Parties of its
purport and of the progress made in putting it into effect.
ARTICLE 22
REPORTING TO THE COMMISSION
The Contracting Parties shall report to the Commission at regular intervals
on:
(a) the legal, regulatory, or other measures taken by them for the
implementation of the provisions of the Convention and of decisions
and recommendations adopted thereunder, including in particular
measures taken to prevent and punish conduct in contravention of
those provisions;
(b) the effectiveness of the measures referred to in subparagraph (a) of
this Article;
(c) problems encountered in the implementation of the provisions referred
to in subparagraph (a) of this Article.
ARTICLE 23
COMPLIANCE
The Commission shall:
(a) on the basis of the periodical reports referred to in Article 22 and
any other report submitted by the Contracting Parties, assess their
compliance with the Convention and the decisions and recommendations
adopted thereunder;
(b) when appropriate, decide upon and call for steps to bring about full
compliance with the Convention, and decisions adopted thereunder, and
promote the implementation of recommendations, including measures to
assist a Contracting Party to carry out its obligations.
ARTICLE 24
REGIONALISATION
The Commission may decide that any decision or recommendation adopted by it
shall apply to all, or a specified part, of the maritime area and may
provide for different timetables to be applied, having regard to the
differences between ecological and economic conditions in the various
regions and sub-regions covered by the Convention.
Conclusion
Notes
See Also
References and Further Reading
About the Author/s and Reviewer/s
Author: international
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