Rules of Procedure for the Commission Representation

Rule 1

·        1.1. Each Contracting Party may appoint not more than two Representatives as members of the Commission and such experts and advisers to assist them as the Party determines.

·        1.2. Each Contracting Party shall notify the Secretary as soon as possible of the names of the Representatives.

·        1.3. The Commission may invite any Government that is not a party to the Convention or any international organization to be represented at meetings of the Commission by an observer or observers.

Voting

Rule 2

·        2.1. Each Contracting Party shall have one vote in the Commission.

·        2.2. Observers, experts, and advisers may address meetings of the Commission but shall not be entitled to vote.

·        2.3. Decisions and recommendations of the Commission shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of votes of the Contracting Parties, present and voting at the meeting of the Commission.

·        2.4. At meetings of the Working Groups appointed by the Commission a simple majority of all members of the Group shall be sufficient to carry the motion voted upon.

·        2.5. Votes shall be taken by show of hands, by roll call in the English alphabetical order of the names of the Parties, or by ballot, as in the opinion of the Chairman appears to be most suitable.

·        2.6. Between meetings of the Commission, or in case of an emergency, a vote of the Representatives (Commissioners) may be taken by mail or by other suitable means.

Chairman and Vice-Chairman

Rule 3

·        3.1. The Commission shall elect a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman from amongst its members, who shall serve for a period of four years and who shall be eligible for re-election, but not for two consecutive terms of office.

·        3.2. The Chairman and the Vice-Chairman shall be elected from the Representatives (Commissioners) of the different Contracting Parties.

·        3.3. A member of the Commission elected as its Chairman shall forthwith cease to act as Representative (Commissioner) of a party and shall not vote. The Party concerned shall have the right to appoint another representative (Commissioner) to serve in the Chairman's place.

·        3.4. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall take office at the conclusion of the Commission's meetings at which they are elected.

·        3.5. The powers and duties of the Chairman shall be:

·        a) to declare the opening and closing of each meeting of the Commission;

·        b) to preside at all meetings of the Commission;

·        c) to decide all questions of order raised at meetings of the Commission, subject of the right of any Representative (Commissioner) to request that any ruling by the Chairman shall be submitted to the Commission for decision by vote;

·        d) to call for votes and to announce the result of the vote to the Commission;

·        e) to determine after consultation with the Representatives (Commissioners) and the Secretary the provisional agenda for the Commission meeting;

·        f) to arrange for the appointment of the members of Working Groups established in accordance with the provisions of Article IX, paragraph 3 of the Convention;

·        g) to sign, on behalf of the Commission, a report of the proceedings of each meeting of the Commission, for transmission to Contracting Parties Representatives (Commissioners), and other concerned, as an authoritative record of what took place;

·        h) generally, to make such decisions and give such directions to the Secretary as will ensure, especially in the interval between the meetings of the Commission that the business of the Commission is carried out efficiently and in accordance with its decisions.

·        3.6. Whenever the Chairman of the Commission is unable to act, the Vice-Chairman shall exercise the powers and duties prescribed for the Chairman.

·        3.7 . If the office of Chairman is vacated, the Vice-Chairman shall become Chairman for the unexpired balance of term, unless exceptionally decided otherwise by unanimous decision of the Commission.

·        3.8. If the offices of Chairman and Vice-Chairman are vacated, the Chairman of the Standing Working Group on Finance and Administration shall exercise the powers and duties prescribed for Chairman and the first order of business of the next meeting of the Commission shall be the election of a Chairman and Vice-Chairman for the unexpired balance of the term.

Secretary

Rule 4

·        4.1. The Commission shall appoint its Secretary. It shall, as it may require, acting on the recommendation of a Contracting Party or the Secretary, appoint, in compliance with the budgetary appropriations, appropriate staff to assist him. The Secretary shall, within the budgetary appropriations, fix the tenure, rate of remuneration and travelling expenses for the members of the Secretariat.

4. 2. The Secretary shall:

·        a) have full power and authority over the Secretariat, subject to the general supervision of the Commission;

·        b) make all necessary arrangements for Commission and Working Groups meetings; and perform such other functions as may be assigned to him by the Commission, its Chairman or the Chairmen of the Working Groups;

·        c) transmit the provisional agenda for the Commission meeting to all Contracting Parties and Representatives (Commissioners) not less than 60 days in advance of the meeting;

·        d) address communications to the Depositary Government, in pursuance of the provisions of Article XVII, paragraph l of the Convention, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Polish People's Republic;

·        e) receive the credentials of the Representatives (Commissioners) and report thereon to the Commission from time to time.

Order of Business

Rule 5

·        5.1. Except as provided in paragraph 5.2 no order of business which involves amendment of these Rules of Procedure, budget or related financial matters, or transmittal of proposals or recommendations under Article X of the Convention, shall be subject of the decision by the Commission unless the subject matter has been included in the provisional agenda and in a memorandum which has been circulated with the provisional agenda by the Secretary to all Representatives (Commissioners) at least 60 days in advance of the meeting at which the matter is to the discussed.

·        5.2. The Commission, with the unanimous agreement of Representatives (Commissioners) representing all Contracting Parties may take decisions on the transmittal of proposals or recommendations under Article X of the Convention; and with unanimous agreement of Representatives (Commissioners) of all Contracting Parties represented at the meeting may take decisions on the other matters mentioned in paragraph 5.1.

Meetings of the Commission

Rule 6

·        6.1. The Commission shall hold a regular meeting (Session) once every year.

·        6.2. Sessions of the Commission shall, unless it be decided otherwise, take place in Warsaw.

·        6.3. Upon a request of a Representative (Commissioner) of a Contracting Party, provided it is endorsed by a Representative (Commissioner) of another Contracting Party, the Chairman shall, as soon as possible, summon an extraordinary meeting at such time and place as he determines, not later, however, than three months from the date of submission of a request.

·        6.4. Sessions of the Commission shall be organised in the form of Plenary Meetings or meetings of the Standing Working Groups, with the meetings of the two Standing Working Groups normally being held at the time of the Sessions.

·        6.5. The Contracting Party has the right to submit in writing to the Secretary at the time of the Session any statement made by a Representative (Commissioner) of that Contracting Party.

Standing Working Groups

Rule 7

·        7.1. The Standing Working Groups of the Commission shall be the Standing Working Group on Regulatory Measures and the Standing Working Group on Finance and Administration.

·        7.2. The Standing Working Group on Regulatory Measures shall consist of one Representative of each Contracting Party, assisted by experts and advisers, the work of which shall be:

·        a) to keep under review the living resources and the fisheries in the Convention Area by collecting, aggregating, analysing and disseminating statistical data concerning for example, catches and fishing effort;

·        b) to prepare and submit for consideration at Plenary Meetings of the Commission proposals or recommendations based on scientific advice, concerning measures referred to in Article X of the Convention; and

·        c) to work out proposals dealing with the coordination of scientific research in the Convention Area and the dissemination of its results.
The Secretary shall be an ex officio member of this Working Group but shall have no vote.

·        7.3. The Standing Working Group on Finance and Administration shall consist of one Representative of each Contracting Party, assisted by experts and advisers, and shall advise the Commission on:

·        a) matters relating to the Secretariat,

·        b) the budget of the Commission,

·        c) the time and place of meetings of the Commission,

·        d) publications of the Commission.
The Secretary shall be an ex officio member of this Working Group but shall have no vote.

·        7.4. The Chairman of each Standing Working Group shall, on a proposal from the Group concerned, be elected by the Commission during its Session and shall hold office for a period of two years with the possibility of re-election thereafter. A member of the Standing Working Group elected as its Chairman shall forthwith cease to act as a Representative of the Contracting Party concerned and shall not vote.

 

Ad Hoc Working Groups

Rule 8

·        8.1. The Commission may establish Ad Hoc Working Groups or other subsidiary bodies to deal with specific problems arising in its work and determine their composition and terms of reference.

 

Observers

Rule 9

 

·        9.1 The Secretary shall invite:

-          Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) that have regular contacts with IBSFC as regards fisheries matters or whose work is of interest to IBSFC or vice-versa.

-          Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support the general objectives of IBSFC and with a demonstrated interest in the species under the purview of IBSFC should be eligible to participate as an observer in plenary meetings of the Sessions and in the meetings of the Standing Committee on Regulatory Measures of IBSFC.

 

·        9.2 Any NGO desiring to participate as an observer in such a meeting shall notify the Secretariat of its desire to participate at least 65 days in advance of the meeting. This application must include:

-          Name, address, telephone, fax number of the organization and the person(s) proposed to represent the organization;

-          Address of all its national/regional offices;

-          Aims and purposes of the organization and a statement that the NGO generally supports the objectives of IBSFC i.e. optimum utilization, rational management and conservation of the fishery resources of the IBSFC Convention Area;

-          Information on the organization’s total number of members, its decision-making process and its funding;

-          A brief history of the organization and a description of its activities;

-          Representative papers or other similar resources produced by or for the organization on the conservation, management, or science of fishery resources to which the Convention applies;

-          A history of IBSFC observer status granted/revoked;

-          Information or input that the organization plans to present at the meeting in question and that it would wish to be circulated by the Secretariat for review by Contracting Parties prior to the meeting, supplied in sufficient quantity for such distribution.

 

·        9.3. The Secretary shall review applications received within the prescribed time, and, at least 60 days before the meeting for which the application was received, shall notify the Contracting Parties of the names and qualifications of NGOs having fulfilled the requirements stipulated in Rule 1.2. Such NGOs shall be granted observer status unless one or more of the Contracting Parties object giving in writing their reasons within 10 days. In this case, the matter will be put to a vote by written procedure. applications will then be considered as accepted in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article VIII paragraph 3 of the Convention at least 30 days prior to the meeting. The Secretary shall also circulate any reasons given in a preliminary objection, as well as any comments that Contracting Parties may include with their vote on this matter.

·        9.4. Any NGO admitted to a meeting may:

-          Attend meetings, as set forth above, but may not vote;

-          Make oral statements at the beginning of these meetings upon the invitation of the chairman;

-          Distribute documents at these meetings through the Secretariat;

-          Engage in other activities as appropriate and as approved by the chairman.

Any NGO admitted to a meeting may not use films, videos, tape-recording devices etc. to record meeting proceedings.

·        9.5. Observers will be required to pay a fee, which will cover the additional expenses generated by their participation, as determined annually by the Secretary.

·        9.6. The Secretary will determine whether, due to conference room capacity, seating limitations require that a limited number of observers per NGO may be present at any meetings. The Secretary will transmit any such determination in the conditions of participation.

·        9.7. All observers admitted to a meeting shall be sent or otherwise receive the same documentation generally available to Contracting Parties and their delegations, except those documents deemed confidential by a Contracting Party or the Secretary.

·        9.8. All observers admitted to a meeting shall comply with all rules and procedures applicable to other participants in the meting. Failure to conform to these rules or any other rules that IBSFC may adopt for the conduct of observers may result in removal from the meeting by the chairman and revocation of observer status.

·        9.9. The general conduct of NGOs with observer status outside the meetings vis-à-vis the IBSFC and representatives of the Contracting Parties shall be without reproach. Non-adherence to this rule may lead to the suspension of observer status for one or more meetings.

·        9.10. If any Contracting Party so requests, the adequacy of these rules shall be reviewed and assessed and, if necessary amendments shall be adopted at the 29^th Annual Session (2003)  in the light of the need of IBSFC to function effectively when conducting its business.

Publicity

 

Rule 10

 

·        10.1 The Secretary shall immediately after a Session circulate/provide:

-          the Press Release agreed upon by the Commission;

-          an updated version of the IBSFC website ( http://www.ibsfc.org/)

in order to provide interested groups and the general public with an actual information on the proceedings and decisions of IBSFC.

 

·        10.2 The Secretary shall transmit

-          the Proceedings of the IBSFC Sessions

-          other publications of the IBSFC

to all admitted observer organizations (Intergovernmental and Non-governmental Organizations).

 

·        10.3 The Secretary shall – on request – transmit the publications referred to under Rule 2.2 to other organizations/institutions.

 

 

Languages of the Commission

Rule 11

·        11.1. English shall be the working language of the Commission. The languages of the Contracting Parties are the official languages of the Commission. Only recommendations, decisions and resolutions of the Commission shall be made in these languages.

·        11.2. At meetings of the Commission any Contracting Party has the right to have all the proceedings, translated into its own language. All the costs connected with such translation shall be met by that Party.

·         

Recommendations and Records of Proceedings of the Commission and of its Working Groups

Rule 12

·        12.1. Records of the Proceedings of Sessions of the Commission shall be provided by the Secretary.

·        12.2. The texts of the recommendations agreed upon during the Session, including the date, as determined by the Commission, from which such recommendations will be given effect, shall be adopted before the Session concludes its work. The Secretariat shall notify the Contracting Parties about the adopted recommendations immediately after the Session.

·        12.3. Except as provided in Rules 12.4-12.6, the text of the Record of Proceedings shall also be adopted before the Session concludes its work.

·        12.4. Notwithstanding the provision of Rule 12.3, Representatives (Commissioners) of the Contracting Parties may submit amendments to those parts of the Record of Proceedings where their own statements are recorded, within a period of 30 days after the end of the Session. The amendments shall be submitted in writing to the Secretariat of the Commission.

·        12. 5. The Secretary shall inform all the Contracting Parties of all the amendments submitted under the provisions of Rule 12.4.

·        12.6. The Representatives of the Contracting Parties may, within further 45 days, inform the Secretary of any changes they wish to include in their own statements in view of the amendments submitted under the provisions of Rule 12.4.

·        12.7. Summary minutes of the Proceedings of all meetings of Working Groups shall be furnished to the Commission.

 

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