Treaty on Open Skies

Article XVII

Depositaries, Entry Into Force And Accession
1. This Treaty shall be subject to ratification by each State Party in accordance with its constitutional procedures. Instruments of ratification and instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Government of Canada or the Government of the Republic of Hungary or both, hereby designated the Depositaries. This Treaty shall be registered by the Depositaries pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations .

2. This Treaty shall enter into force 60 days after the deposit of 20 instruments of ratification, including those of the Depositaries, and of States Parties whose individual allocation of passive quotas as set forth in Annex A is eight or more.

3. This Treaty shall be open for signature by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirgistan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and shall be subject to ratification by them. Any of these States which do not sign this Treaty before it enters into force in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article may accede to it at any time by depositing an instrument of accession with one of the Depositaries.

4. For six months after entry into force of this Treaty, any other State participating in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe may apply for accession by submitting a written request to one of the Depositaries. The Depositary receiving such a request shall circulate it promptly to all States Parties. The States applying for accession to this Treaty may also, if they so wish, request an allocation of a passive quota and the level of this quota.

The matter shall be considered at the next regular meeting of the Open Skies Consultative Commission and decided in due course.

5. Following six months after entry into force of this Treaty, the Open Skies Consultative Commission may consider the accession to this Treaty of any State which, in the judgement of the Commission, is able and willing to contribute to the objectives of this Treaty.

6. For any State which has not deposited an instrument of ratification by the time of entry into force, but which subsequently ratifies or accedes to this Treaty, this Treaty shall enter into force 60 days after the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.

7. The Depositaries shall promptly inform all States Parties of:

the date of deposit of each instrument of ratification and the date of entry into force of this Treaty;
the date of an application for accession, the name of the requesting State and the result of the procedure;
the date of deposit of each instrument of accession and the date of entry into force of this Treaty for each State that subsequently accedes to it;
the convening of a conference pursuant to Articles XV and XVI;
any withdrawal in accordance with Article XV and its effective date;
the date of entry into force of any amendments to this Treaty; and
any other matters of which the Depositaries are required by this Treaty to inform the States Parties.

Article XVIII
PROVISIONAL APPLICATION AND PHASING OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TREATY
In order to facilitate the implementation of this Treaty, certain of its provisions shall be provisionally applied and others shall be implemented in phases.

SECTION I. PROVISIONAL APPLICATION

1. Without detriment to Article XVII, the signatory States shall provisionally apply the following provisions of this Treaty:

Article VI, Section I, paragraph 4;
Article X, paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7;
Article XI;
Article XIII, Section I, paragraphs 1 and 2;
Article XIV; and
Annex L, Section I.
2. This provisional application shall be effective for a period of 12 months from the date when this Treaty is opened for signature. In the event that this Treaty does not enter into force before the period of provisional application expires, that period may be extended if all the signatory States so decide. The period of provisional application shall in any event terminate when this Treaty enters into force. However, the States Parties may then decide to extend the period of provisional application in respect of signatory States that have not ratified this Treaty.

SECTION II. PHASING OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. After entry into force, this Treaty shall be implemented in phases in accordance with the provisions set forth in this Section. The provisions of paragraphs 2 to 6 of this Section shall apply during the period from entry into force of this Treaty until 31 December of the third year following the year during which entry into force takes place.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article IV, paragraph 1, no State Party shall during the period specified in paragraph 1 above use an infra-red line-scanning device if one is installed on an observation aircraft, unless otherwise agreed between the observing and observed Parties. Such sensors shall not be subject to certification in accordance with Annex D. If it is difficult to remove such sensor from the observation aircraft, then it shall have covers or other devices that inhibit its operation in accordance with the provisions of Article IV, paragraph 4 during the conduct of observation flights.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article IV, paragraph 9, no State Party shall, during the period specified in paragraph 1 of this Section, be obliged to provide an observation aircraft equipped with sensors from each sensor category, at the maximum capability and in the numbers specified in Article IV, paragraph 2, provided that the observation aircraft is equipped with:

a single optical panoramic camera; or
not less than a pair of optical framing cameras.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of Annex B, Section II, paragraph 2, subparagraph (A) to this Treaty, data recording media shall be annotated with data in accordance with existing practice of States Parties during the period specified in paragraph 1 of this Section.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article VI, Section I, paragraph 1, no State Party during the period specified in paragraph 1 of this Section shall have the right to be provided with an aircraft capable of achieving any specified unrefuelled range.

6. During the period specified in paragraph 1 of this Section, the distribution of active quotas shall be established in accordance with the provisions of Annex A, Section II, paragraph 2 to this Treaty.

7. Further phasing in respect of the introduction of additional categories of sensors or improvements to the capabilities of existing categories of sensors shall be addressed by the Open Skies Consultative Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article IV, paragraph 3 concerning such introduction or improvement.

Article XIX
AUTHENTIC TEXTS
The originals of this Treaty, of which the English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Depositaries. Duly certified copies of this Treaty shall be transmitted by the Depositaries to all the States Parties.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Charter of the United Nations, Treaty on Open Skies.