Article XII – Amendments
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Article XII – Amendments

  (1) The Convention may be amended by either of the following procedures:

  • (a) amendments after consideration within the Organization:

    • (i) any amendment proposed by a Party shall be submitted to the Secretary-General, who shall then circulate it to all Members of the Organization, all Parties and the Director-General of the International Labour Office at least six months prior to its consideration;

    • (ii) any amendment so proposed and circulated shall be referred to the Maritime Safety Committee of the Organization for consideration;

    • (iii) Parties, whether or not Members of the Organization, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Maritime Safety Committee for consideration and adoption of amendments;

    • (iv) 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 (a)(iii) (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;

    • (v) amendments so adopted shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to all Parties for acceptance;

    • (vi) an amendment to an article shall be deemed to have been accepted on the date on which it is accepted by two thirds of the Parties;

    • (vii) an amendment to the annex shall be deemed to have been accepted:

      • 1 at the end of two years from the date on which it is communicated to the Parties for acceptance; or

      • 2 at the end of a different period, which shall be not 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, the amendments shall be deemed not to have been accepted if, within the specified period, either more than one third of Parties or Parties the combined merchant fleets of which constitute not less than 50% of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant shipping of ships of 100 gross register tons or more notify the Secretary-General that they object to the amendment;

    • (viii) an amendment to an article 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;

    • (ix) an amendment to the annex shall enter into force with respect to all Parties, except those which have objected to the amendment under sub-paragraph (a)(vii) and which have not withdrawn such objections, six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted. Before the date determined 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; or

  • (b) amendment by a conference:

    • (i) upon the request of a Party concurred in by at least one third of the Parties, the Organization shall convene, in association or consultation with the Director-General of the International Labour Office, a conference of Parties to consider amendments to the Convention;

    • (ii) 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 Parties for acceptance;

    • (iii) 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 sub-paragraphs (a)(vi) and (a)(viii) or sub-paragraphs (a)(vii) and (a)(ix) respectively, provided that references in these sub-paragraphs to the expanded Maritime Safety Committee shall be taken to mean references to the conference.

  (2) Any declaration of acceptance of, or objection to, an amendment or any notice given under paragraph (1)(a)(ix) shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary-General, who shall inform all Parties of any such submission and the date of its receipt.

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

Parent topic: Articles of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978
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