1. At the invitation of the Government of the Republic of France, a Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the States Parties to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas was held in Paris on July 9 and 10, 1984.

2. The following States were present at the Conference: Angola, Benin, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Japan, Republic of Korea, Morocco, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, United States, Uruguay, U.S.S.R., Venezuela.

3. The European Economic Community, invited as an observer, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations were present at the Conference and participated in the proceedings.

4. The Conference used as a basis for its discussions the final report of the Eighth Regular Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas held in Madrid, November 9-15, 1983.

5. The Conference agreed upon the attached Protocol relating to the modification of Articles XIV, XV and XVI of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

6. The Conference also agreed that the provisions of Article XIV, paragraph 4, contained in the above-mentioned Protocol, will, upon their entry into force, be applicable to the European Economic Community with the understanding that the European Economic Community will have the rights and obligations of a single Contracting Party, especially as concerns voting and contributions to the budget of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

7. The Conference took note of the explanations offered by the Japanese representative regarding the problems of a procedural nature which were not resolved during the course of the meeting. The representative, however, in a spirit of compromise, did not oppose the consensus reached in the Conference in order to ensure the early admission of the European Economic Community to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

8. The Conference requested the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to proceed to implement the internal procedures necessary for the approval, ratification or acceptance of the Protocol, so as to ensure its entry into force as soon as possible.

Done at Paris, July 10, 1984

Angola: (signed)

Benin: (signed)

Brazil: (signed)

Canada: (signed)

Cuba: (signed)

France: (signed)

Ghana: (signed)

Ivory Coast: (signed)

Japan: (signed)

Republic of Korea: (signed)

Morocco: (signed)

Portugal: (signed)

Sao Tome and Principe: (signed)

Senegal: (signed)

South Africa: (signed)

Spain: (signed)

United States: (signed)

U.S.S.R.: (signed)

Uruguay: (signed)

Venezuela: (signed)

PROTOCOL

Paris, July 9-10, 1984

I. Articles XIV, XV and XVI of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas are modified as follows:

ARTICLE XIV

1. This Convention shall be open for signature by the Government of any State which is a Member of the United Nations or of any Specialized Agency of the United Nations. Any such government which does not sign this Convention may adhere to it at any time.

2. This Convention shall be subject to ratification or approval by signatory countries in accordance with their constitutions. Instruments of ratification, approval, or adherence shall be deposited with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

3. This Convention shall enter into force upon the deposit of instruments of ratification, approval, or adherence by seven Governments and shall enter into force with respect to each Government which subsequently deposits an instrument of ratification, approval, or adherence on the date of such deposit.

4. This Convention shall be open for signature or adherence by any inter-governmental economic integration organization constituted by States that have transferred to it competence over the matters governed by this Convention, including the competence to enter into treaties in respect of those matters.

5. Upon the deposit of its instrument of formal confirmation or adherence, any organization referred to in paragraph 4 shall be a Contracting Party having the same rights and obligations in respect of the provisions of the Convention as the other Contracting Parties. Reference in the text of the Convention to the term "State" in Article IX, paragraph 3, and to the term "government" in the Preamble and in Article XIII, paragraph 1, shall be interpreted in this manner.

6. When an organization referred to in paragraph 4 becomes a Contracting Party to this Convention, the member states of that organization and those which adhere to it in the future shall cease to be parties to the Convention; they shall transmit a written notification to this effect to the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

ARTICLE XV

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shall inform all Governments referred to in paragraph 1 of Article XIV and all the organizations referred to in paragraph 4 of the same Article of deposits of instruments of ratification, approval, formal confirmation or adherence, the entry into force of this Convention, proposals for amendments, notifications of acceptance of amendments, entry into force of amendments, and notifications of withdrawal.

ARTICLE XVI

The original of this Convention shall be deposited with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations who shall send certified copies of it to the Governments referred to in paragraph 1 of Article XIV and to the organizations referred to in paragraph 4 of the same Article.

II. The original of this Protocol, the English, French and Spanish texts of which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It shall be open for signature in Rome until September 10, 1984. The Contracting Parties to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas that have not signed the Protocol by that date may nevertheless deposit their instruments of acceptance at any time. The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shall send a certified copy of this Protocol to each of the Contracting Parties to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

III. This Protocol shall enter into force upon deposit with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations of instruments of approval, ratification or acceptance of all Contracting parties. In this regard, the provisions set out in the last sentence of paragraph 1 of Article XIII of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic tunas shall apply mutatis mutandis. The date of entry into force shall be the thirtieth day following the deposit of the last instrument.

Done at Paris, July 10, 1984.