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The FAO Conference, at its Seventh Session (December 1953) approved the Constitution of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease for submission to FAO Member Nations for acceptance.
In accordance with paragraph 1, Article XIV, the Constitution came into force on 12 June 1954. The Constitution of the Commission was registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations on 21 June 1954 under No. 2588.
Amendments were approved by the FAO Council at its Thirty-ninth Session. At its Twentieth Session (April 1973), the Commission adopted further amendments to its Constitution, which were endorsed by the Council at its Sixty-first Session (November 1973). Subsequently, at its Twenty-second Session (March/April 1977), the Commission adopted further amendments to its Constitution which were approved by the FAO Council at its Seventy-second Session (November 1977). The amendments referred to in this paragraph entered into force for all the parties to the Constitution.
At its Twenty-eight Session, held in Rome in May 1989, the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease adopted an amendment to paragraph 1 of Article I of its Constitution. The purpose of the amendment was to enlarge the criteria for membership in the Commission. The amendment was considered by the Council of FAO at its Ninety-sixth Session (6-10 November 1989) and was approved by Resolution 2/96. In accordance with Article XIV, paragraph 5 of the Constitution of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, this amendment took effect on the date of the decision of the Council, i.e. on 10 November 1989.
At its Thirty-second Session (April 1997) the Commission adopted further amendments to the Constitution. The amendments were endorsed by the FAO Council at its Hundred and Thirteenth Session (November 1997) and entered into force immediately.
The following participants deposited their instruments of acceptance on the corresponding date indicated:
| Participant |
Acceptance |
| Albania |
25 Nov 1986 |
| Austria |
1 Dec 1955 |
| Belgium |
24 Sep 1959 |
| Bulgaria |
2 Nov 1971 |
| Cyprus |
11 Jan 1971 |
| Croatia |
17 Jan 1995 |
| Czech Republic1 |
1 Jan 1986 |
| Denmark |
4 Feb 1954 |
| Finland |
5 Mar 1968 |
| France |
28 Feb 1984 |
| Germany2 |
26 Mar 1973 |
| Greece3 |
23 Mar 1959 |
| Hungary |
7 Apr 1970 |
| Iceland |
17 Jan 1955 |
| Ireland |
16 Dec 1953 |
| Israel |
4 Sep 1990 |
| Italy |
29 Sep 1955 |
Latvia |
28 Jan 2008 |
| Lithuania |
27 May 1993 |
| Luxembourg |
1 Jun 1959 |
| Malta |
13 Mar 1970 |
| Netherlands |
12 Jun 1954 |
| Norway |
11 Dec 1953 |
| Poland |
4 Jan 1984 |
| Portugal |
6 Oct 1955 |
| Republic of Serbia4 | 2 Nov 2001 |
| Romania |
4 Feb 1993 |
| Slovakia | 31 May 2006 |
| Slovenia |
25 Jul 1995 |
| Spain |
20 Dec 1978 |
| Sweden |
13 Dec 1963 |
| Switzerland |
23 Feb 1961 |
| The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
24 Feb 1997 |
| Turkey |
27 Sep 1955 |
| United Kingdom |
1 Mar 1954 |
Declarations and Reservations:
Germany, Federal Republic of - (Declaration made upon acceptance):
The Federal Republic of Germany declared that the Constitution of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease "... shall also apply to Berlin (West) with effect from the date on which it enters into force for the Federal Republic of Germany."
| notes 1.Czechoslovakia ceased to exist on 31 December 1992. On 6 April 1994, the Director-General received from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic a notification stating that "In conformity with the valid principles of international law and to the extent defined by it, the Czech Republic, as a successor State to the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, considers itself bound as of January 1, 1993, i.e. the date of the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak federal Republic, by the multilateral international treaties to which the Czech and Slovak Republic was a party on that date. This includes reservations and declarations to their provisions made earlier by the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic." The Slovak Republic has not yet indicated its position regarding these treaties |
| 2.On 3 October 1990, the German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. As a consequence, the German Democratic Republic has ceased to exist. In a message of the same day addressed to Heads of State and Government, the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany stated: "Now that German unity has been established, we shall discuss with the contracting parties concerned the international treaties of the German Democratic Republic with a view to regulating their continued application, adjustment or expiry, taking into account protection of confidence, the interests of the states concerned and the contractual obligations of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the principles of a free, democratic basic order governed by the rule of law, and respecting the competence of the European Community". |
| 3.The acceptance of the text of the Constitution amended in 1977 was confirmed by an instrument received on 20 July 1994. |
| 4.On 6 February 2003, the Director-General received a notification informing him that the name “Federal Republic of Yugoslavia” has been changed to “Serbia and Montenegro”. On 12 June 2006, the Director-General received a new notification informing that the Republic of Serbia is continuing the membership of “Serbia and Montenegro” in FAO and all its organs, on the basis of Article 60 of the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro, activated by the Declaration of Independence adopted by the National Assembly of Montenegro on 3 June 2006, and that the name “Republic of Serbia” is to be henceforth used instead of the name “Serbia and Montenegro”. |