a. Agreement for the Establishment of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council' ^^ (1.) Objectives The 

 purpose of this agreement is to establish a constitution for international cooperation in the development 

 and proper utilizatiofi of the living aquatic resources of the Indo-Pacific areas.* * ^ 



The States Parties to the Agreement are— Australia, Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, France, India, 

 Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, United Kingdom, 

 United States, and Vietnam. 



(2.) Administrative Organization and Powers The States Parties agree to establish, within FAO's 

 framework, the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council, composed of FAO members and those associate members 

 of FAO and United Nations members not FAO members which apply for admission and are admitted by 

 a two-thirds vote of the Council membership.' *'' Decisions of the Council are taken by a majority of the 

 votes cast, with each member having one vote, unless a greater majority is required by the Agreement or 

 the Council's procedural rules.' ^' The Council elects a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman at each regular 

 session and they serve until the end of the next regular session.*** 



FAO provides the Secretary for the Council and the FAO Director^eneral appoints its Secretary who 

 is administratively responsible to him.' * ' 



The following functions and duties, limited to the Indo-Pacific area, are entrusted to the Council: 



(a) To formulate the oceanographical, biological, and other technical aspects of the problems of 

 development and proper utilization of living aquatic resources; 



(b) To encourage and co-ordinate research and application of improved methods in every day practice; 



(c) To assemble, publish or otherwise disseminate oceanographical, biological, and other technical 

 information relating to living aquatic resources; 



(dj To recommend to Members such National or co-operative research and development projects as may 

 appear necessary or desirable to fill gaps in such knowledge; 



(e) To undertake, where appropriate, co-operative research and development projects directed to this 

 end; 



if) To propose, and where necessary to adopt, measures to bring about the standardization of scientific 

 equipment, techniques, and nomenclature; 



At its third session in 1947, the FAO Conference recommended that the FAO should take the initiative in 

 creating regional councils for the scientific exploration of the sea in parts of the world not then served by similar 

 bodies, giving special attention to the Northwestern Atlantic, the Southwestern Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the 

 Mediterranean Sea and contiguous waters, the Northeastern Pacific, the Southeastern Pacific, the Western South 

 Atlantic, and the Eastern South Atlantic. The first product of the recommendation was the formation of the 

 Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council in 1948. T.l.A.S. No. 1895. 



The agreement creating the Council was subsequently amended. The latest amended agreement entered into force 

 for the United States, Nov. 23, 1961, 13 U.S.T. 2511, T.l.A.S. No. 5218, 418 U.N.T.S. 348. The agreement was further 

 amended at the Ninth Session in Karachi in 1961. These amendments were approved at FAO's Eleventh Session in 

 Rome and entered into force for the United States, Nov. 23, 1961. 13 U.S.T. 2511, T.l.A.S. 5218. 



The Agreement provides that Members of the Council may amend it by a two-thirds vote. An amendment becomes 

 effective only after concurrence of the FAO Council, unless the CouncU considers it desirable to refer the amendment 

 to the FAO Conference for approval. An amendment becomes effective as from the date of the decision of the FAO 

 Council or Conference, as the case may be. However, any amendment involving new obUgations for members comes 

 into force with regard to each Member only on acceptance of it by that Member. Agreement, Art. VIII. 



183 



Agreement, Preamble. 

 '*^/d., Art. I (2), IX. This provision was intended to induce the Soviet Union to join. 

 *®^/d.. Art. II (2). 

 '**/d., Art. 11(3). 

 '^■'W., Art. 11(6). 



VlII-131 



