(1) The Convention shall enter into force twelve months after the date on which not less than fifteen States have either signed it without reservation as to ratification, acceptance, or approval or have deposited the requisite instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession in accordance with article IX, the aggregate of whose fleets of fishing vessels constitutes not less than 50 per cent by number of the world’s fleet of fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over.

(2) The Organisation shall inform the States which have signed the Convention or accede to it on the date on which it enters into force.

(3) For States which have deposited an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession in respect of the Convention after the requirements for entry into force thereof have been met but prior to the date of entry into force, the ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall take effect on the date of entry into force of the Convention or three months after the date of deposit of the instrument, whichever is the later date.

(4) For States which have deposited an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession after the date on which the Convention entered into force, the Convention shall become effective three months after the date of deposit of the instrument.

(5) After the date on which all the conditions required under Article XI to bring an amendment to the Convention into force have been fulfilled, any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited shall apply to the Convention as amended.

DENUNCIATION

Article XII

(1) The Convention may be denounced by any Party at any time after the expiry of five years from the date on which the Convention enters into force for that Party.

(2) Denunciation shall be effected by notifications in writing to the Secretary-General who shall inform all other Parties of any such notification received and of the date of its receipt as well as the date on which such denunciation takes effect.

(3) A denunciation shall take effect twelve months after receipt of the notification of denunciation by the Secretary-General or after the expiry of any longer period which may be indicated in the notification.

AMENDMENTS

Article XI

(1) The Convention may be amended by either of the procedures specified in this Article.

(2) Amendments after consideration within the Organisation:

• (a) Any amendment proposed by a Party shall be submitted to the Secretary-General, who shall then circulate it to all Members of the Organisation and to all the Parties at least six months prior to its consideration.
• (b) Any amendment proposed and circulated as above shall be referred to the Maritime Safety Committee of the Organisation for consideration.
• (c) Parties whether or not Members of the Organisation, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Maritime Safety Committee for the consideration and adoption of amendments.
• (d) Amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting in the Maritime Safety Committee expanded as provided for in sub-paragraph (c) (hereinafter referred to as “the expanded Maritime Safety Committee”) on condition that at least one-third of the Parties shall be present at the time of voting.
• (e) Amendments adopted in accordance with sub-paragraph (d) shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to all the Parties.

• (f) (i) An amendment to an Article or to Regulations 1 and 3 to 11 shall be deemed to have been accepted on the date on which it is accepted by two-thirds of the Parties.
• (ii) An amendment to the Annex other than to Regulations 1 and 3 to 11 shall be deemed to have been accepted:
• (aa) at the end of two years from the date on which it is communicated to the Parties for acceptance; or
• (bb) at the end of a different period, which shall not be less than one year, if so determined at the time of its adoption by a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting in the expanded Maritime Safety Committee.
• However, if within the specified period either more than one-third of the Parties, or Parties the aggregate of whose fleet of fishing vessels constitutes not less than fifty per cent by number of the fleet of fishing vessels of all the Parties of 24 metres in length and over, notify the Secretary-General that they object to the amendment, it shall be deemed not to have been accepted.
• (iii) An amendment to an Appendix to the Annex shall be deemed to have been accepted at the end of a period to be determined by the expanded Maritime Safety Committee at the time of its adoption, which period shall be not less than ten months, unless within that period an objection is communicated to the Organisation by not less than one-third of the Parties, or Parties the aggregate of whose fleet of fishing vessels constitutes not less than fifty per cent by number of the fleet of fishing vessels of all the Parties of 24 metres in length and over.
• (g) (i) An amendment to an Article or to Regulations 1 and 3 to 11 shall enter into force with respect to those Parties which have accepted it, six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted, and with respect to each Party which accepts it after that date, six months after the date of that Party’s acceptance.
• (ii) An amendment to the Annex other than to Regulations 1 and 3 to 11 and to an Appendix to the Annex shall enter into force with respect to all Parties, except those which have objected to the amendments under sub-paragraph (f) (ii) and (iii) and which have not withdrawn such objections, six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted. However, before the date set for entry into force any Party may give notice to the Secretary-General that it exempts itself from giving effect to that amendment for a period not longer than one year from the date of its entry into force, or for such longer period as may be determined by a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting in the expanded Maritime Safety Committee at the time of the adoption of the amendment.

(3) Amendment by a Conference:

• (a) Upon the request of a Party concurred in by at least one-third of the Parties, the Organisation shall convene a Conference of the Parties to consider amendments to the Convention.
• (b) Every amendment adopted by such a Conference by a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to all the Parties for acceptance.
• (c) Unless the Conference decides otherwise, the amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted and shall enter into force in accordance with the procedures specified in paragraph (2) (f) and (g) respectively, provided that references in those sub-paragraphs to the expanded Maritime Safety Committee shall be taken to mean references to the Conference.

(4) Any Party which has declined to accept the amendment to the Annex shall be deemed not to be a Party for the purpose of application of that amendment.

(5) Unless expressly provided otherwise, any amendment to the Convention which relates to the structure of a vessel, shall apply only to vessels for which, on or after the date of entry into force of the amendment:

• (a) the keel is laid; or
• (b) construction identifiable with a specific vessel begins; or
• (c) assembly has commenced comprising at least fifty tonnes or one per cent of the estimated mass of all structural material; whichever if the less.

(6) Any declaration of acceptance of, or objection to, an amendment or any notice given under paragraph (2)(g)(ii) shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary-General who shall inform all the Parties of any such submission and of the date of its receipt.

(7) The Secretary-General shall inform all the Parties of any amendments which enter into force, together with the date on which each such amendment enters into force.

[translation] “Whereas the said Convention and its Annex and appendices have been approved by the Honourable Government Junta, the State of Chile accedes to the International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels with an express reservation in regard to article XI thereof, declaring that the amendments referred to in that provision shall not be binding on the State of Chile until such time as such amendments have been approved in accordance with the internal legal standards which regulate the approval of international treaties.”

Germany, Federal Republic of

The instrument of ratification of the Federal Republic of Germany was accompanied by the following declaration (in the German language):

[translation] “ . . . the said Convention shall also apply to Berlin (West) with effect from the date on which it enters into force for the Federal Republic of Germany, provided that the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany does not make a declaration to the contrary to the Secretary-General within three months after the deposit.”

The instrument was also accompanied by a note (in the German language) informing the Secretary-General that:

[translation] “Ratification of the Convention by the Federal Republic of Germany is effected in consideration of the recommendation adopted by the Council of the European Communities on 23 September 1980.”

United Kingdom

The depositary received the following communication dated 12 September 1984 from the Government of the United Kingdom:

“The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs presents his compliments to the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization and has the honour to refer to the Secretary-General’s circular (SFV/Cir.10) of 19 December 1983 concerning the accession of the Government of Argentina to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977. In its instrument of accession Argentina stated that it rejected the extension of the Convention to the Falkland Islands and the Falkland Islands Dependencies, categorized the designation of the Falkland Islands and the Falkland Islands Dependencies as incorrect, and claimed that it had sovereign rights over the said Islands, asserting that they form an integral part of its national territory.

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reject each and every one of these statements and assertions. The United Kingdom has no doubt as to its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and the Falkland Islands Dependencies and thus to its right to include them within the scope of application of international agreements to which it is a party. The United Kingdom, therefore, does not accept the declaration of the Argentine Republic claiming that the ‘Malvinas Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands’ are Argentine territory, and cannot accept that the Argentine Republic has any rights in this regard. Nor can the United Kingdom accept that the Falkland Islands and the Falkland Islands Dependencies are incorrectly designated.”