(1) The present Convention shall come into force twelve months after the date on which not less than fifteen Governments of States, including seven each with not less than one million gross tons of shipping, have signed without reservation as to acceptance or deposited instruments of acceptance or accession in accordance with article XXVII. The Organisation shall inform all Governments which have signed or acceded to the present Convention of the date on which it comes into force.

(2) For Governments which have deposited an instrument of acceptance of or accession to the present Convention during the twelve months mentioned in paragraph (1) of this article, the acceptance or accession shall take effect on the coming into force of the present Convention or three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of acceptance or accession, whichever is the later date.

(3) For Governments which have deposited an instrument of acceptance of or accession to the present Convention after the date on which it comes into force, the Convention shall come into force three months after the date of the deposit of such instrument.

(4) After the date on which all the measures required to bring an amendment to the present Convention into force have been completed, or all necessary acceptances are deemed to have been given under sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) of Article XXIX in case of amendment by unanimous acceptance, any instrument of acceptance or accession deposited shall be deemed to apply to the Convention as amended.

AMENDMENTS

Article XXXIX

1. The present Convention may be amended upon the proposal of a Contracting Government by any of the procedures specified in this Article.

2. Amendment by unanimous acceptance:

• (a) Upon the request of a Contracting Government, any amendment proposed by it to the present Convention shall be communicated by the Organisation to all Contracting Governments for consideration with a view to unanimous acceptance.
• (b) Any such amendment shall enter into force twelve months after the date of its acceptance by all Contracting Governments unless an earlier date is agreed upon. A Contracting Government which does not communicate its acceptance or rejection of the amendment to the Organisation within three years of its first communication by the latter shall be deemed to have accepted the amendment.
• (c) Any proposed amendment shall be deemed to be rejected if it is not accepted under sub-paragraph (b) of the present paragraph within three years after it has been first communicated to all Contracting Governments by the Organisation.

3. Amendment after consideration in the Organisation:

• (a) Upon the request of a Contracting Government, any amendment proposed by it to the present Convention will be considered in the Organisation. If adopted by a majority of two-thirds of those present and voting in the Maritime Safety Committee of the Organisation, such amendment shall be communicated to all Members of the Organisation and all Contracting Governments at least six months prior to its consideration by the Assembly of the Organisation.
• (b) If adopted by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting in the Assembly, the amendment shall be communicated by the Organisation to all Contracting Governments for their acceptance.
• (c) Such amendment shall come into force twelve months after the date on which it is accepted by two-thirds of the Contracting Governments. The amendment shall come into force with respect to all Contracting Governments except those which, before it comes into force, make a declaration that they do not accept the amendment.
• (d) The Assembly, by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting, including two-thirds of the Governments represented on the Maritime Safety Committee and present and voting in the Assembly, may propose a determination at the time of its adoption that an amendment is of such an important nature that any Contracting Government which makes a declaration under sub-paragraph (c), and which does not accept the amendment within a period of twelve months after it comes into force, shall cease to be a party to the present Convention upon expiry of that period. This determination shall be subject to the prior acceptance of two-thirds of the Contracting Governments to the present Convention.
• (e) Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the Contracting Government which first proposed action under this paragraph on an amendment to the present Convention from taking at any time such alternative action as it deems desirable in accordance with paragraph (2) or (4) of this Article.

4. Amendment by a conference:

• (a) Upon the request of a Contracting Government, concurred in by at least one-third of the Contracting Governments, a conference of Governments will be convened by the organisation to consider amendments to the present Convention.
• (b) Every amendment adopted by such a conference by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting of the Contracting Governments shall be communicated by the Organisation to all Contracting Governments for their acceptance.
• (c) Such amendment shall come into force twelve months after the date on which it is accepted by two-thirds of the Contracting Governments. The amendment shall come into force with respect to all Contracting Governments except those which, before it comes into force, make a declaration that they do not accept the amendment.
• (d) By a two-thirds majority of those present and voting, a conference convened under sub-paragraph (a) may determine at the time of its adoption that an amendment is of such an important nature that any Contracting Government which makes a declaration under sub-paragraph (c), and which does not accept the amendment within a period of twelve months after it comes into force, shall cease to be a party to the present Convention upon expiry of that period.

5. Any amendment to the present Convention made under this Article which relates to the structure of a ship shall apply only to ships the keels of which are laid, or which are at a similar stage of construction, on or after the date on which the amendment comes into force.

6. The Organisation shall inform all Contracting Governments of any amendments which come into force under this Article, together with the date on which each such amendment will come into force.

7. Any acceptance or declaration under this Article shall be made by a notification in writing to the Organisation which shall notify all Contracting Governments of the receipt of the acceptance or declaration.

TERRITORIAL APPLICATION

Article XXXII

1. (a) The United Nations, in cases where they are the administering authority for a territory, or any Contracting Government responsible for the international relations of a territory shall as soon as possible consult with such territory in an endeavour to extend the present Convention to that territory and may at any time by notification in writing to the Organisation declare that the present Convention shall extend to such territory.

(b) The present Convention shall, from the date of the receipt of the notification, or from such other date as may be specified in the notification, extend to the territory named therein.

2. (a) The United Nations, or any Contracting Government which has made a declaration under sub-paragraph (1) of this Article, at any time after the expiry of a period of five years from the date on which the Convention has been extended to any territory, may by notification in writing to the Organisation declare that the present Convention shall cease to extend to any such territory named in the notification.

(b) The present Convention shall cease to extend to any territory mentioned in such notification one year, or such longer period as may be specified therein, after the date of receipt of the notification by the Organisation.

3. The Organisation shall inform all the Contracting Governments of the extension of the present Convention to any territories under paragraph (1) of this Article, and of the termination of any such extension under the provisions of paragraph (2), stating in each case the date from which the present Convention has been or will cease to be so extended.

“With respect to its off-coast areas, the People’s Republic of China will not be bound by the defining of zones and seasonal areas in the relevant provisions of regulations 49 and 50 of Annex II to the Convention.”

Egypt

The signature of the Representative of the United Arab Republic (now the Arab Republic of Egypt) was accompanied by the following paragraph (in the English language):

“The Government of the United Arab Republic register the following reservation: Nothing in this Convention should in any way, affect any of the rules and regulations promulgated by the Suez Canal Authority. In case of any contradiction between them the latter shall prevail.”

German Democratic Republic

The instrument of accession of the German Democratic Republic was accompanied by the following statement and declarations (in the German language):

[translation] “With regard to the application to Berlin (West) of the Convention the Government of the German Democratic Republic states in accordance with the Quadripartite Agreement of 3 September 1971 between the Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and the French Republic that Berlin (West) is no constituent part of the Federal Republic of Germany and must not be governed by it. Consequently, the statement of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany that the Convention applies also to the ‘Land Berlin’ is contrary to the Quadripartite Agreement and can have no legal effects.

The Government of the German Democratic Republic considers that the provisions of article XXVII of the Convention are inconsistent with the principle that all States pursuing their policies in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations shall have the right to become parties to conventions affecting the interests of all States.

The position of the Government of the German Democratic Republic on article XXXII of the Convention, as far as the application of the Convention to colonial and other dependent territories is concerned, is governed by the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (resolution 1514(XV) of 14 December 1960) proclaiming the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.”

Germany, Federal Republic of

A letter (in the English language) from the Chargé d’affaires of the Federal Republic of Germany in London, which accompanied the instrument of acceptance, contains the following sentence:

“The said Convention shall also apply to Land Berlin with effect from the date on which it enters into force for the Federal Republic of Germany.”

Note: The following Governments do not accept the declaration accompanying the instrument of acceptance of the Federal Republic of Germany and the texts of their Notes to this effect were circulated by the depositary: Bulgaria, Poland, the U.S.S.R.

Israel

The depositary received a communication dated 11 February 1976 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Israel in London. The communication, the full text of which was circulated by the depositary, includes the following:

“The Government of Israel notes that in acceding to the . . . Convention . . ., the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic included in its instruments of accession sentences relating to the State of Israel. This statement by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is a political one and it is the view of the Government of Israel that the [International Maritime Organization] and its conventions are not the proper place for making such pronouncements. These pronouncements are, moreover, in flagrant contradiction to the principles, objects and purposes of the Convention in question.

The Government of Israel rejects the said statement as being devoid of any legal validity whatsoever and will proceed on the assumption that it cannot in any way affect the obligations incumbent on the Syrian Arab Republic under the above-mentioned Convention.

The Government of Israel will, in so far as concerns the substance of the matter, adopt towards the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic an attitude of complete reciprocity.”

Oman

The instrument of accession of the Sultanate of Oman contained the following statement (in the English language):

“It is understood that accession to this International Convention on Load Lines does not, in any way, imply recognition of Israel by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, and furthermore, no treaty relations will arise between the Sultanate of Oman and Israel by virtue of this action by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman.”

Romania

The letter (in the French language) accompanying the instrument of accession of the Socialist Republic of Romania contains the following declaration:

[translation] “(a) The Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Romania considers that the maintenance in a state of dependence of certain territories referred to in the provisions contained in article XXXII of the Convention is not in accordance with the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization on 14 December 1960 in resolution 1514(XV), which proclaims the need to put an end rapidly and unconditionally to colonialization in all is forms and manifestations, nor with the Declaration on principles of international law on friendly relations and co-operation between States in conformity with the United Nations Charter, adopted unanimously in resolution 2625(XXV) on 24 October 1970 by the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization, which proclaims solemnly that it is the duty of States to foster the fulfilment of the principle of equal rights between peoples and their right to self-determination, with the aim of bringing colonialism to a speedy end.

(b) The Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Romania considers that the provisions of article XXVII, paragraph one, of the Convention are not in accordance with the principle that multilateral international treaties whose aims and objects concern the international community as a whole, should be open to participation by all.

(c) . . .

(d) The Government of the Socialist Republic of Romania considers that the approval given by the ‘Republic of Korea’ to the International Convention on Load Lines done in London on 5 April 1966 has no legal effect, since the South Korean authorities have no title to speak on behalf of Korea.”

Syrian Arab Republic

The instrument of accession of the Syrian Arab Republic contains the following sentence (in the Arabic language):

[translation] “ . . . this accession . . . to this Convention . . . in no way implies recognition of Israel and does not involve the establishment of any relations with Israel arising from the provisions of this Convention.”

U.S.S.R.

At the time of signature, the Representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics addressed to the depositary a letter (in the English language) which contains the following statement:

“The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics states that article XXVII(1) of the International Convention on Load Lines 1966, under which the Governments of a number of States are deprived of the opportunity to become Parties to this Convention, is of a discriminatory nature and believes that in accordance with the principles of sovereign equality of States the Convention should be open for participation to all the interested nations without any discrimination or limitation.”

On 16 October 1969, a communication (in the Russian language) was received by the depositary from the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in London, of which the following is an excerpt:

[translation] “ . . . the Soviet Union does not recognize the acceptance of the Convention on Load Lines, 1966 by the authorities of South Korea as lawful since the above-mentioned authorities cannot act in any way on behalf of Korea.”