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Convention Articles

Description of the Waigani Convention Articles

This section provides a general description of the Articles and the Annexes of the Waigani Convention. For more detailed information on either the obligations of the Convention or its implementation, visit the subchapters in this section of the handbook.

The complete text of the Waigani Convention is also available.

ARTICLE INDEX:

ANNEXES INDEX:

ARTICLES INDEX

1. Definitions

2. Scope of the Convention and Area of Coverage

3. National Definitions of Hazardous Wastes

4. General Obligations

5. Competent Authorities and Focal Points

6. Notification Procedures for Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes between Parties

7. Transmission of Information

8. Duty to Re-import

9. Illegal Traffic

10. Cooperation Among Parties and International Cooperation

11. Bilateral, Regional or Multilateral Agreements or Arrangements

12. Liabilities and Compensation

13. Conference of the Parties

14. Secretariat

15. Revolving Fund

16. Amendments to this Convention

17. Protocols to this Convention

18. Adoption and Amendment of Annexes

19. Verification

20. Settlement of Disputes

21. Signature

22. Ratification, Acceptance or Approval

23. Accession

24. Entry into Force

25. Reservations and Declarations

26. Withdrawal

27. Depositary

28. Registration

ANNEXES INDEX

ANNEX I. CATEGORIES OF WASTES WHICH ARE HAZARDOUS WASTES

ANNEX II. LIST OF HAZARDOUS CHARACTERISTICS

ANNEX III. PACIFIC ISLAND DEVELOPING PARTIES

ANNEX IV. OTHER PARTIES

ANNEX V. DISPOSAL OPERATIONS

ANNEX VI. A INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED ON NOTIFICATION

ANNEX VI. B INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED ON THE MOVEMENT DOCUMENT

ANNEX VII. ARBITRATION

To see the full text of the Annexes, visit the Convention Text section.

Article 1 Definitions

Article 1 provides a description of some of the key terms used in the Convention including definitions that are unique to this Convention.

"Convention Area": notes that the Convention covers the land territory, territorial sea, continental shelf, archipelagic waters and economic exclusion zones of each of the Pacific Forum Countries.

"Other Party": is defined as Australia and New Zealand. Other countries may be added once the Convention comes into force and admission rules are agreed upon. Hence, countries like the USA, the UK and France may be added at some later date.

"Radioactive wastes": which rather than adopting one definition of radioactive waste, the Convention takes a broad view and accepts the definition of all other international agreements covering radioactive material. There are a number of international agreements and arrangements that refer to radioactive wastes. Probably the most relevant is the International Atomic Energy Agency Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Radioactive Wastes. The Code describes "radioactive waste" as: "any material that contains or is contaminated with radionuclides at concentrations or radioactivity levels greater than the exempt quantities established by the competent authorities and for which no use is foreseen."

"Wastes": are defined as substances or materials which are disposed of, or are intended to be disposed of, or are required to be disposed of, by provisions of national legislation.

Article 2. Scope of the Convention and the Area Covered

Article 2 describes the scope of the Convention including the types of waste involved and the area covered by the Convention

While the specific categories of wastes are defined in the Annex, the general scope of the Convention covers toxic, poisonous, explosive, corrosive, flammable, ecotoxic (i.e., poisonous to plants and animals), and infectious wastes (Art. 2.1).

In regards to radioactive wastes, this article bans the import and export into the Convention Area with some exceptions (Art 2.2). Wastes from ships are not covered by the convention (Art 2.3).

The Convention does not affect the sovereignty of countries over their territorial sea or economic exclusions zone as defined within the Law of the Sea (Art 2.4) and it also has no effect on the rights of countries with respect to other international agreements (Art 2.5).

The area that the Convention covers is bounded by 20°North - 60°South and 130°East- 120°West (Art 2.6). Parties may add areas to be covered by the Convention within these boundaries.

Article 3. National Definitions of Hazardous Wastes

Article 3 provides for countries to identify and inform the Secretariat of any hazardous wastes they have listed under their own national legislation (Art 3.1), as well as any restrictions on its movement. Countries have to keep the Secretariat up to date with any changes to this information (Art.3.2)

The Secretariat informs the other member countries (Art 3.3) who have to then inform their exporters, importers and other relevant organisations (Art 3.4).

Article 4. General Obligations

Article 4 sets out the obligations on the parties to the Convention to cooperate with other member countries to stop the trade in hazardous and radioactive wastes in the South Pacific region.

Pacific Island developing countries must ban the import of hazardous and radioactive wastes into the Convention Area. Other Parties like Australia and New Zealand have to ban the export of hazardous and radioactive wastes to Pacific Forum countries or to territories in the Convention Area (Art 4.1).

All Parties have to send any information on illegal waste trade to the Secretariat (SPREP) and cooperate in stopping the illegal import of hazardous or radioactive waste (Art 4.2).

Member countries that are already parties to other conventions that ban dumping of wastes at sea, agree not to dump hazardous and radioactive wastes at sea. Other countries are asked to consider joining (Art 4.3).

For the wastes already located in the Convention Area, countries are required to do a number of things (Art 4.4):

Reduce the production of hazardous wastes;
Ensure that any inter-country movement of wastes is consistent with the Convention;
Ensure that environmentally sound waste treatment facilities are available. If they cant afford the facilities, they should cooperate with others to properly manage the wastes;
Cooperate with SPREP to manage and simplify the transhipment of hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner. These transhipments may be exempt from the full reporting and approval requirements of the Convention;
Develop a national hazardous waste strategy;
Submit information to SPREP on wastes produced in their country; and
Prohibit the export or import of waste from countries that are not members of the Convention, but are found within the boundaries of the Convention area. (e.g. New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna etc).Note: Member countries can also enter into special arrangement with these countries, under Article 11 of the Convention.

For radioactive wastes member countries are encouraged to implement the International Atomic Energy Authority Code of Conduct on the International Transboundary Movement of Radioactive Wastes or any other similar standard for radioactive waste (Art 4.5).

Depending on funds, member countries are encouraged to participate in international negotiations over goods and substances that have been banned by other governments for human health or environmental reasons. The Convention does not restrict countries from stopping the import of these banned goods (Art 4.6).

Article 5. Competent Authorities and Focal Points

Article 5 explains that member countries have to identify one Competent Authority (most likely an environment department) and the individual who will be the Focal Point in the department, but that it is not necessary to establish a whole new department (Art 5.1). The Competent Authority has to notify other countries of potential hazardous waste trade (Art 5.2). The Focal Point is also responsible for sending and receiving information including accidents and any changes to national definitions of hazardous waste (Art 5.3). There is also an obligation on countries to inform SPREP of the identity of their Competent Authority and Focal Point (Art 5.4).

Article 6. Notification Procedures for Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes between Parties

Article 6 provides the notification procedures of the Convention. It describes how member countries intending to export hazardous waste have to notify all the countries that may be affected by the waste shipment. However, the Competent Authority can get the producer or the generator of the waste (this could be a private company) to notify the affected countries in writing. The notification needs to include specific information listed in Annex VI A and should be written in a language acceptable to the importing country. Only one notification per country is required (Art 6.1).

The importing country has to acknowledge the notification, and then has sixty days to respond. It can either agree to the trade, with or without conditions, or reject it. It can also ask for further information and once received, has twenty-one days to respond (Art 6.2).

The exporting member country cannot allow the export until it has received the following documentation (Art 6.3):

written approval from the importing country;
written approval from any member country which the waste will; transit through including the transit of a ship carrying the waste through the exclusive economic zone of that country;
written approval from any other transit country, even if it is not a Convention member country;
written confirmation from the importing country that it has a contract between the exporter and the company or institution that intends to dispose of the waste. This contract should spell out how the waste will be disposed of in an environmentally sound means; and
written confirmation from the exporter that it has insurance, a bond or a guarantee for the shipment

The transit member country has fourteen days after receiving notification to let the exporter know it received the formal notification. It then has sixty days to decide whether or not it approves of the shipment passing through its territory. As with the importing country, it can agree to the transit shipment, reject it or approve it with conditions. It also has twenty one days to consider any additional information (Art 6.4).

There are some exceptions to the general conditions for the export of wastes depending on who defines the wastes (Art 6.5):

If the exporter of hazardous wastes carries out regular shipments of wastes to the same disposer and the wastes have the same physical and chemical characteristics, then the exporter country may allow the exporter to use a general notification. This would mean that the exporter would not have to produce a notification for each export (Art 6.6).

Countries receiving regular waste shipments, or countries that are regular transit countries may choose to give general written consent to these shipments, rather than give approval each time a shipment is proposed (Art 6.7). However, general consent should only apply for a maximum of twelve months (Art 6.8).

Each export of hazardous must also be accompanied by a movement document that includes information specified in Annex VI B. Upon delivery or receipt of the waste, the person in charge of the waste shipment must sign the movement document.

The disposer of the waste in the importing country has to inform the exporter and the competent authority of the export country that he/she has disposed of the waste in an environmentally sound manner. If the competent authority doesn't receive this information from the disposer within a reasonable period of time, the competent authority has to notify the importing country (Art 6.9).

All shipments of hazardous waste have to be covered by insurance, a bond or other guarantee as required by the importing or transit countries (Art 6.10).

Article 7. Transmission of Information

Article 7 describes the circumstances when information must be provided to SPREP and other countries, as well as the type of information. If for example, an accident occurs during the shipment of hazardous waste and this accident is likely to be a risk to human health or the environment in other countries, the exporting country has to notify all affected countries and the SPREP (Art 7.1). Member countries also need to inform each other through SPREP of changes to their Competent Authority or Focal Point and changes to national definitions of hazardous wastes (Art 7.2).

Member countries also need to set up hazardous waste information processes in order to keep SPREP informed (Art 7.3).

Article 8. Duty to Re-import

Article 8 describes how the exporting country must establish measures to ensure that if a waste shipment cannot be completed with the appropriate approvals, documentation and insurance, then the wastes are returned to the exporting country. A transit country or import country should not hinder the return of these wastes (Art 8.1). While recognising the need to return wastes if the procedures fail, an exporting member country need not re-import the waste if it can find an appropriate alternative but this new disposal needs to take place within 90 days (Art 8.2).

Article 9. Illegal Traffic

Article 9 is concerned with identifying illegal waste and what to do about it. Hazardous wastes shipments are considered illegal in the following circumstances (Art 9.1):

they are done without notification;
they are done without consent;
the consent has been falsified or misrepresented;
the disposal is not consistent with environmentally sound management or contravene general principles of international law; or
it is against import or export bans.

Member countries need to develop national legislation to punish illegal traffic and cooperate with other countries to prevent illegal traffic (Art 9.2).

If an illegal waste shipment has taken place the because of practices by the exporter or the generator of the wastes, the exporting country has to ensure that the waste is taken back by the exporter or generator, or if this is not feasible, the waste is disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. If the wastes are to be taken back by the exporter (because they are found to be illegal), the concerned member countries should not hinder the return of these wastes (Art 9.3).

If the waste is illegal because of actions by the importer or the disposer of the waste, then the importing country must ensure that the wastes are disposed of in an environmentally sound manner, even if it has to do so itself. This should be done within 30 days. The importing and exporting Convention member countries should cooperate in the disposal of the wastes (Art 9.4).

If the responsibility for the illegal waste shipment cannot be determined, then affected member countries (and others if they wish to) have to cooperate to ensure that the waste is disposed of in an environmentally sound manner (Art 9.5).

SPREP will work with the Basel Convention Secretariat to prevent and monitor any illegal waste shipments. They will exchange information on incidents and provide assistance in capacity building to assist in preventing and penalizing illegal waste shipments (Art 9.6).

Article 10. Cooperation Among Parties and International Cooperation

Article 10 focuses on the cooperation between member countries and non-member countries, regional and international organistions. Member countries have to cooperate with non members and other groups to ensure that waste treatment and disposal facilities are environmentally sound. If possible, treatment and disposal facilities should be located within the Convention area (Art 10.1).

To this end, member countries, if asked, must:

provide information on environmentally sound management of their hazardous wastes and cooperate in monitoring the effects of hazardous wastes,
cooperate in implementing new environmentally sound and cleaner production techniques (methods that reduce the production of wastes). This cooperation should be carried out with the aim of eliminating hazardous wastes. Actions to eliminate the production of hazardous wastes should take into account the economic, social and environmental impacts of taking such action,
cooperate to transfer technology and management systems that provide environmentally sound management of wastes, and
cooperate in developing technical guidelines and/or codes of practice (Art 10.2).

SPREP is to encourage Australia and New Zealand and other concerned developed countries to provide assistance, including finance, for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes in Pacific Island developing member countries. Australia and New Zealand will cooperate with SPREP in this regard (Art 10.3).

Member countries are also encouraged to cooperate with international organisations to assist in the management of hazardous wastes and the development of new technologies (Art 10.4).

Article 11. Bilateral, Regional or Multilateral Agreements or Arrangements

Article 11 covers the other agreements or arrangements countries may enter into. Member countries can enter into agreements with non-Convention member countries for the shipment of hazardous wastes, as long as they are carried out in an environmentally sound manner (Art 11.1). They must notify SPREP of these agreements (Art 11.2). The Convention should not interfere with any other agreements or arrangements concerning the shipment of hazardous wastes so long as they carried out in an environmentally sound manner (Art 11.3).

Article 12. Liabilities and Compensation

Article 12 describes how the Conference of Parties (the COP) will consider the development of liability and compensation arrangements associated with the shipment of hazardous wastes, for example, compensation for accidents. The development of these arrangements will be carried out without affecting the development of similar rules under international law.

Article 13. Conference of the Parties

Article 13 describes how the Conference of Parties (COP) is established. The first COP will take place not later than one year after the Convention comes into force. Meetings of the COP will be held on a regular basis and the quorum for such meetings will be two-thirds (Art 13.1).

The COP will develop rules of procedure and the financial rules (Art 13.2) and will also consider adopting additional measures in accordance with the precautionary principle, that is, taking precautionary action in the absence of hard science (Art 13.3).

The conference of parties will also take actions to (Art 13.4):

promote common actions to minimise harm to human health and the environment;
consider and adopt amendments to the Convention;
examine and approve the regular budget;
consider and undertake additional action necessary to implement the Convention;
consider and adopt protocols (additional agreements);
establish subsidiary institutions under the Convention; and
determine and adopt rules for the acceptance of new members to the convention.

Any country that is eligible to become a member of the convention may be represented as an observer at the meetings of the COP. Any other country, institution, governmental or non-governmental organisation with an interest in the subject matter of the Convention can also be admitted as an observer. However, they must first inform the Secretariat and, if one third of the member countries object to their presence, they may not be admitted as an observer (Art 13.5).

Article 14. Secretariat

Article 14 establishes the Secretariat for the Convention and describes its functions (Art 14.1). These include:

arranging and servicing meetings,

preparing a regular budget,

preparing and transmiting reports on definitions of hazardous wastes, import and export bans, accidents and agreements with Non member countries,

preparing and transmiting information from meetings of subsidiary organisations of the Convention,

ensuring coordination with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and other relevant organisations,

communicating with competent authorities (environment departments) and focal points,

compiling information on facilities available for the disposal of hazardous wastes and means of transport,

providing information on available sources of technical and scientific expertise,

providing information on consultants or consulting firms,

assisting member countries in their identification of illegal waste trade,

providing rapid assistance in the event of an emergency,

reporting on information from member countries, and

performing other relevant functions.

The Secretariat will report to member countries (Art 14.2) before the end of the calendar year on the following:

information on hazardous waste trade including the quantity of hazardous wastes exported and imported, any disposals that did not happen as intended and efforts to achieve a reduction in the amount hazardous wastes;

information on measures adopted by the Convention members;

information on the effects on human health and the environment from hazardous wastes;

information on accidents;

information on environmentally sound treatment and disposal; and

information on cleaner production technologies;

The Secretariat's functions will be carried out by the SPREP (Art 14.3).

Article 15. Revolving Fund

Article 15 identifies that the development of a revolving fund to assist in emergency situations will be considered by the Conference of Parties.

Article 16. Amendments to this Convention

Article 16 describes how the Convention can be amended in the future. Any member country may propose an amendment to the Convention (Art 16.1) but any proposed amendment should be submitted to member countries at least six months before the meeting, which needs at least two-thirds of the members to be present. The Secretariat should also send the proposed amendments to countries that have signed, but not ratified (agreed to be bound by) the Convention (Art 16.2).

Member countries should attempt to reach consensus when agreeing upon an amendment but if this can't be done, a two-thirds majority vote will apply (Art 16.3). Amendments shall enter into force 90 days after three-quarters of the member countries have agreed and ratified the amendment.

Instruments of ratification (agreeing to be bound by the Convention) have to be deposited with the Depositary, that is, the Pacific Forum Secretariat (Art 16.4).

For the purpose of Article 16, "Parties present and voting" means Parties present and casting a yes or no vote (Art 16.5).

Article 17. Protocols to this Convention

Article 17 describes how new Protocols to the Convention are developed. The Conference of Parties may, at any ordinary meeting agree to a new protocol, that is an additional legally binding agreement to the Convention (Art 17.1). The text of any proposed protocol needs to be sent to the Parties by the Secretariat at least six months before the meeting at which it will be considered (Art 17.2). The voting procedure is the same as for amendments, that is, member countries should attempt to reach consensus but if this can't be done, a two-thirds majority vote will apply to either the adoption of a protocol or any amendments to a protocol (Art 17.3). The requirements for entry into force of a protocol are to be written into the protocol (Art 17.4) and decisions pertaining to any protocol can only be taken by countries that have ratified the protocol (Art 17.5).

Article 18. Adoption and Amendment of Annexes

Article 18 describes how Annexes to the Convention are adopted or amended. The Annexes are an important part of the Convention and are restricted to scientific, technical and administrative matters (Art 18.1). Certain procedures apply to any new Annexes (Art 18.2). These include:

Agreement on new Annexes to be the same procedure as specified in Article 16.

Any member country that does not accept an Annex must notify the Depository, who then notifies member countries. Member countries can reverse their position on their objection to an annex at a later date.

New Annexes enter into force six months after the Annexes have been accepted.

If a new Annex involves an amendment to the Convention, then the new Annex cannot enter into force until the amendment to the Convention enters into force (Art 18.3).

Article 19. Verification

Article 19 describes the circumstances where a member country thinks that another member country is acting illegally with regards to the Convention. In this case, they should inform the Secretariat and the country concerned (Art 19.1). The Conference of Parties will consider adopting a protocol to deal with verifying the claims made by member countries concerning illegal activities of other countries. (Art 19.2).

Article 20. Settlement of Disputes

Article 20 describes the process to settle disputes between member countries. In the case of a dispute between member countries, the countries concerned must seek a settlement through negotiation, mediation or other peaceful means (Art 20.1). If the member countries cannot settle their disputes, the issue will be submitted to the dispute procedures set out in Annex VII of the Convention or to the International Court of Justice. Even though the dispute may be sent to some sort of arbitration, member countries are to continue to seek a settlement by negotiation (Art 20.2).

When agreeing to be bound by (stick to the rules of) the Convention, member countries may declare that they accept without reservation (without conditions) the arbitration procedure set out in Annex VII and/or that a dispute can be considered by the International Court of Justice (Art 20.3).

Article 21. Signature

This article explains that the Convention was opened for signature by members of the Pacific Island Forum at Waigani, PNG on the 16th September 1995 (Art 21.1) and remained open for signature by members of the South Pacific Forum until the 21st March 1996. (Art 21.2).

Article 22. Ratification, Acceptance or Approval

Article 22 describes the process by which countries agree to be bound by the rules of the Convention. This is done by means of ratification, acceptance or approval of the Convention which is sent to the Depositary (The Pacific Forum Secretariat).

Article 23 Accession

This article describes how the Convention would be opened for accession (that is agreeing to the rules) by members of the South Pacific Forum, the day after the Convention is closed for signature. Letters of accession are deposited with the Depository, that is the Secretary-General of the Pacific Forum Secretariat (Art 23.1).

(Note: If a country has not signed onto the Convention, {meaning that it supports the Convention}, but wants to be bound by the rules, it can accede (rather then ratify) the Convention. Accession and ratification have the same effect in international law.)

Other countries that are not members of the South Pacific Forum but have territories in the Convention area may accede to the Convention. Other countries that do not have territories in the Convention area may also accede to the Convention if agreed upon by the Conference of Parties. (Art 23.2).

Article 24. Entry into Force

The Convention enters into force 30 days after 10 countries have ratified or acceded to the Convention.

Article 25 Reservations and Declarations

Each country must accept all the articles of the Convention and cannot agree to only part of the Convention (Art 25.1). When ratifying the Convention, a country may make a statement indicating that its agreement to the Convention is consistent with its laws and regulations. Such a declaration should not change the legal effect of the Convention (Art 25.2).

Article 26 Withdrawal

After the Convention has been in force for three years, a member country may withdraw from the Convention but has to do so in writing (Art 26.1). The withdrawal will take effect one year after the written notice of withdrawal has been received by the Depository (Art 26.2). During this time, a member country is still bound by the obligations of the Convention (Art 26.3).

Article 27 Depository

The Secretary-General of the South Pacific Forum Secretariat (now the Pacific Forum Secretariat) is identified as the Depository.

Article 28 Registration

Once the Convention enters into force, it will be registered with the United Nations.

ANNEX I. CATEGORIES OF WASTES WHICH ARE HAZARDOUS

Annex 1 describes the types of waste covered by the convention for example, clinical waste, copper compounds and waste containing PCBs.

For a full discussion of the Annexes including the wastes covered by the Convention, visit the Implementation Tools section.

ANNEX II.LIST OF HAZARDOUS CHARACTERISTICS

Annex II lists the hazardous characteristics of wastes covered by the Convention, such as explosive, flammable, oxidising and corrosive.

ANNEX III. PACIFIC ISLAND DEVELOPING PARTIES

This Annex identifies the members of the South Pacific Forum that are considered to be Pacific Island Developing Parties for the purposes of the Convention (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nuie, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Samoa)

It also states that the COP may accept a new member of the Convention to be a Pacific Island Developing Country.

ANNEX IV. OTHER PARTIES

This Annex identifies Other Parties such as Australia and New Zealand.

The COP may accept a new member country to be an Other Party. An Other Party may designate territory located within the Convention area to be a Pacific Island Developing Party but this would need agreement by the COP.

ANNEX V. DISPOSAL OPERATION

This Annex lists disposal options in two categories.

ANNEX VI. A. INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED ON NOTIFICATION

This describes the information to be provided on a notification form which includes such things as country of export, transit countries etc.

ANNEX VI. B. INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED ON THE MOVEMENT DOCUMENT

This describes the information to be provided on a movement document which includes such things as the generator and exporter of the wastes, a description of the waste and the actual site of disposal etc.

ANNEX VII. ARBITRATON

Article 7 describes the dispute settelement process, which is summarised in the follwing:

ARTICLE 1
Unless otherwise agreed to in Article 20 the following arbitration procedures will apply.

ARTICLE 2
A member country which is claiming that another member has broken the rules of the Convention will notify the Secretariat, indicating that both countries agree to have the dispute considered by arbitration (a form of judgement). The country claiming the concern will specify which part of the Convention they believe the other country is disobeying. The Secretary will notify all member countries and give them information about this dispute.

ARTICLE 3
The arbitration tribunal (the judging panel) will consist of 3 member countries. Each of the member countries to the dispute will appoint an arbitrator (judge). The two selected arbitrators will choose a third arbitrator to be the president of the tribunal. The president of the tribunal should not be a national of one of the member countries in dispute or be a resident or be employed by any of the member countries concerned.

ARITCLE 4
If president of the tribunal has not been selected within two months the Secretary-General of the Pacific Forum Secretariat, in consultation with the Director of SPREP will select a person to be the president. This will be done within two months.

If one of the member countries to the dispute does not appoint an arbiter within two months, the other party may inform the Secretary-General of the Pacific Forum Secretariat. The Forum Secretariat, in consultation with the Director of SPREP will select the president of the tribunal. Once selected the president will request the member country which has not appointed an arbiter to do so within two months. If the party member country concerned does not appoint a arbiter within the two months, the Pacific Forum Secretariat will appoint someone.

ARTICLE 5
The tribunal will make a decision in accordance with international law and in accordance with the requirements under this Convention. The tribunal will decide its own rules of procedure.

ARTICLE 6
Decisions of the tribunal will be taken by a majority vote. The tribunal will take all steps to establish the facts and may recommend interim protection measures.Member countries in the dispute will provide facilities for the effective work of the tribunal.

The absence of a member country should not interfere with the proceedings of the tribunal.

ARTICLE 7
The tribunal may hear and consider counter-claims (opposing claims) arising from a dispute.

ARTICLE 8
The expenses of the tribunal will be met by the member countries involved in the dispute in equal shares. The tribunal may decide upon other costing arrangements. The tribunal will keep a record of expenses and is will submit a statement to the member countries in dispute.

ARTICLE 9
A member country which feels that it may be affected by the outcomes of the tribunal may participate in the tribunal with the approval of the arbitrators.

ARTICLE 10
The tribunal will submit its findings (decisions) on the dispute within five months, unless it decides to extend the time. The findings will be accompanied by a statement of reasons and the decision will be binding upon the member countries involved in the disputes. If a member country disagrees with the findings of the tribunal they may submit their disagreement to the tribunal.

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