• (a) Any Party may propose an amendment to this Convention. A proposed amendment shall be submitted to the Secretary-General, who shall then circulate it to the Parties and Members of the Organization at least six months prior to its considerations. In the case of a proposal to amend Annex 1, it shall be processed in accordance with article 6, prior to its consideration under this article.
• (b) An amendment proposed and circulated as above shall be referred to the Committee for consideration. Parties, whether or not Members of the Organization, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Committee for consideration and adoption of the amendment.
• (c) Amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting in the Committee on condition that at least one-third of the Parties shall be present at the time of voting.
• (d) Amendments adopted in accordance with subparagraph (c) shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to the Parties for acceptance.
• (e) An amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted in the following circumstances:
  • (i) An amendment to an article of this Convention shall be deemed to have been accepted on the date on which two-thirds of the Parties have notified the Secretary-General of their acceptance of it.
  • (ii) An amendment to an Annex shall be deemed to have been accepted at the end of twelve months after the end of adoption or such other date as determined by the Committee. However, if by that date more than one-third of the Parties notify the Secretary-General that they object to the amendment, it shall be deemed not to have been accepted.
• (f) An amendment shall enter into force under the following conditions:
  • (i) An amendment to an article of this Convention shall enter into force for those Parties that have declared that they have accepted it six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted in accordance with subparagraph (e)(i).
  • (ii) An amendment to Annex 1 shall enter into force with respect to all Parties six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted, except for any Party that has:
    • (1) notified its objection to the amendment in accordance with subparagraph (e)(ii) and that has not withdrawn such objection;
    • (2) notified the Secretary-General, prior to the entry into force of such amendment, that the amendment shall enter into force for it only after a subsequent notification of its acceptance; or
    • (3) made a declaration at the time it deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval of, or accession to, this Convention that amendments to Annex 1 shall enter into force for it only after the notification to the Secretary-General of its acceptance with respect to such amendments.
  • (iii) An amendment to an Annex other than Annex 1 shall enter into force with respect to all Parties six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted, except for those Parties that have notified their objection to the amendment in accordance with subparagraph (e)(ii) and that have not withdrawn such objection.
• (g) (i) A Party that has notified an objection under subparagraph or (iii) may subsequently notify the Secretary-General that it accepts the amendment. Such amendment shall enter into force for such Party six months after the date of its notification of acceptance, or the date on which the amendment enters into force, whichever is the later date.
  • (ii) If a Party that has made a notification or declaration referred to in subparagraph (f)(ii)(2) or (3), respectively, notifies the Secretary-General of its acceptance with respect to an amendment, such amendment shall enter into force for such Party six months after the date of its notification of acceptance, or the date on which the amendment enters into force, whichever is the later date.

(3) Amendment by a Conference:

• (a) Upon the request of a Party concurred in by at least one-third of the Parties, the Organization shall convene a Conference of Parties to consider amendments to this Convention.
• (b) An 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 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 paragraphs (2)(e) and (f) respectively of this article.

(4) Any Party that has declined to accept an amendment to an Annex shall be treated as a non-Party only for the purpose of application of that amendment.

(5) An addition of a new Annex shall be proposed and adopted and shall enter into force in accordance with the procedure applicable to an amendment to an article of this Convention.

(6) Any notification or declaration under this article shall be made in writing to the Secretary-General.

(7) The Secretary-General shall inform the Parties and Members of the Organization of

• (a) any amendment that enters into force and the date of its entry into force generally and for each Party; and
• (b) any notification or declaration made under this article.

SIGNATURE, RATIFICATION, ACCEPTANCE, APPROVAL AND ACCESSION

Article XVII

(1) This Convention shall be open for signature by any State at the Headquarters of the Organization from 1 February 2002 to 31 December 2002 and shall thereafter remain open for accession by any State.

(2) States may become Parties to this Convention by:

• (a) signature not subject to ratification, acceptance, or approval; or
• (b) signature subject to ratification, acceptance, or approval, followed by ratification, acceptance, or approval; or
• (c) accession.

(3) Ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument to that effect with the Secretary-General.

(4) If a State comprises two or more territorial units in which different systems of law are applicable in relation to matters dealt with in this Convention, it may at the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession declare that this Convention shall extend to all its territorial units or only to one or more of them and may modify this declaration by submitting another declaration at any time.

(5) Any such declaration shall be notified to the Secretary-General and shall state expressly the territorial units to which this Convention applies.

ENTRY INTO FORCE

Article XVIII

(1) This Convention shall enter into force twelve months after the date on which not less than twenty-five States, the combined merchant fleets of which constitute not less than twenty-five per cent of the gross tonnage of the world’s merchant shipping, have either signed it without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval, or have deposited the requisite instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession in accordance with article 17.

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

(3) Any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited after the date on which this Convention enters into force shall take effect three months after the date of deposit.

(4) After the date on which an amendment to this Convention is deemed to have been accepted under article 16, any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited shall apply to the Convention as amended.

DENUNCIATION

Article XIX

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

(2) Denunciation shall be effected by the deposit of written notification with the Secretary General, to take effect one year after receipt or such longer period as may be specified in that notification.

DEPOSITARY

Article XX

(1) This Convention shall be deposited with the Secretary-General, who shall transmit certified copies of this Convention to all States which have signed this Convention or acceded thereto.

(2) In addition to the functions specified elsewhere in this Convention, the Secretary-General shall—

• (a) inform all States which have signed this Convention or acceded thereto of:
  • (i) each new signature or deposit of an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession, together with the date thereof;
  • (ii) the date of entry into force of this Convention; and
  • (iii) the deposit of any instrument of denunciation of this Convention, together with the date on which it was received and the date on which the denunciation takes effect; and
• (b) as soon as this Convention enters into force, transmit the text thereof to the Secretariat of the United Nations for registration and publication in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

LANGUAGES

Article XXI

This Convention is established in a single original in the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, each text being equally authentic.

On 9 February 2012, Estonia declared the following concerning the application of article 9 of the Convention:

• “The recognized organisations that are authorized to act on behalf of Estonia to control the anti-fouling systems in accordance with the Convention are:
• Lloyd’s Register (LR)
• Bureau Veritas (BV)
• Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
• Germanischer Lloyd (GL)
• American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
• Registro Italiano Navale (RINA)
• Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
• There are no surveyors nominated on behalf of the Estonian Maritime Administration as stated in paragraph 1(a) in article 9 of the Convention.”