IHO File No. S1/6100/2020
ASSEMBLY CIRCULAR LETTER N°11
09 December 2019
2nd SESSION OF THE IHO ASSEMBLY (A-2)
Monaco, 21-24 April 2020
______
APPROVAL OF THE LISTS OF INVITED OBSERVERS
References:
A. General Regulations of the IHO - Article 4
B. ACL No. 7/Rev.1 dated 28 August 2019 - Invited Observers.
Dear Hydrographer,
1. In accordance with the General Regulations of the IHO (Reference A), Assembly Circular Letter
No. 7/Rev.1 (Reference B) requested Member States to consider approving the lists of Observers to be
invited to attend the 2nd session of the IHO Assembly (A-2) and to provide further comments, if any, on the
lists.
2. The Secretariat thanks the 63 Member States that have replied: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Georgia,
Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Rep of), Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia,
Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of
Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain,
Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United
States of America and Uruguay.
3. All Member States indicated in paragraph two supported the adoption of the lists of Observers to
be invited to A-2. One Member State offered a comment in addition to their vote. The comment and the
outcome of its review by the Secretariat are provided in Annex A to this letter.
4. There are currently 93 Member States of the IHO with four States suspended. Therefore, in
accordance with paragraph 6 of Article VI of the Convention on the IHO that was applicable when
Reference B was issued, the majority required for adoption of the lists of Observers to be invited to attend
the 2nd session of the IHO Assembly was 60. As a result, the lists of invited Observers are approved.
5. Consequently, invitations to attend A-2 will be issued, taking into account the comment received
as indicated in Annex A.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Mathias JONAS
Secretary-General
Annex-A: Response to IHO ACL No. 7/Rev1 and Comment from the Secretariat
Annex A to IHO ACL11/2019
RESPONSE TO IHO ACL NO. 7/REV1 AND COMMENT FROM THE SECRETARIAT
INVITED OBSERVERS - SUBMISSION OF FINAL LISTS FOR APPROVAL
CHILE
Vote = YES
CHILE proposed to invite the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, considering the close relationship the IHO
has with it, particularly through the Antarctic Hydrographic Commission and the joint efforts in
progress, to increase the priority of hydrography in Antarctic. Nevertheless the IHO Secretariat
stated that "there is currently no agreement or special arrangement made with the Antarctic Treaty
Secretariat to support its inclusion". CHILE strongly maintains its recommendation, since the
Antarctic Treaty Secretariat (ATS) is recognized as an Observer Organization to the IHO
Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica (HCA). (Ref. IHO website) and the HCA is a special
Hydrographic Commission of the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO).
Secretariat comment: Comment provided from Chile is noted. The Secretariat considers that the
Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica (HCA) is a special Hydrographic Commission, but not an
integral part of the IHO in accordance with the IHO Convention and General Regulations. HCA was
established in conformity with IHO Resolution 2/1997, as amended “Establishment of Regional
Hydrographic Commissions (RHC). Regional Hydrographic Commissions and HCA conduct their
activities according to their own statutes and they can invite any organizations and institutions to
their meetings as observers, without any special agreement. However, General Regulations of the
IHO - Article 4.c and d requires an agreement or special arrangement in order to be invited to the
Assembly which is currently not the case for Antarctic Treaty Secretariat.
Meanwhile, the IHO Secretariat will consider to sign an agreement with the Antarctic Treaty
Secretariat in the future which may facilitate the participation of Antarctic Treaty Secretariat to future
IHO Assemblies as observer.
Saatja: CL-LC <
[email protected]>
Saadetud: 09.12.2019 17:45
Adressaat: INFO <
[email protected]>
Teema: ACL 11/2019
Manused: oppijfgbpcimbhai.png; ACL11_2019_EN_v1.pdf
Dear Hydrographer,
Please find attached herewith :
- ACL 11/2019: APPROVAL OF THE LISTS OF INVITED OBSERVERS.
Kind regards