IHB File No. S1/0100
CIRCULAR LETTER 01/2016
07 January 2016
STATUS REPORT ON APPROVALS OF AMENDMENTS TO
THE CONVENTION ON THE IHO
AND ON PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR IHO MEMBERSHIP
AND ACCESSION OF NEW MEMBER STATES
Dear Hydrographer,
1. The Directing Committee and staff of the IHB are pleased to take advantage of this first Circular
Letter of the year to renew their very best wishes for 2016 to all the IHO Member States and are looking
forward to another busy and fruitful year for the International Hydrographic Organization. Below we
provide an update on the status of the approvals of the Protocol of Amendments to the IHO Convention as
well as of the pending applications from new Member States to the Organization.
Protocol of Amendments to the Convention on the IHO
2. In order for the proposed amendments to the Convention on the IHO to enter into force, the
approval of at least 48 existing Member States, being two-thirds of the Member States entitled to vote at
the time of the 3rd Extraordinary International Hydrographic Conference (EIHC-3) held in 2005, are
required.
3. According to the information provided by the Department of External Relations and Cooperation of
the Government of Monaco at the end of 2015, 46 of the required 48 Member State Governments
(Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Cyprus,
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland,
India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russian
Federation, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom and
United States of America) have formally notified their approval of the Protocol of Amendments. Five
approvals (Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, India and Ukraine) were recorded in 2015.
4. A list of those Member States that do not seem to have indicated to the Government of Monaco
their position on the approval of the Protocol of Amendments to the Convention on the IHO is contained
in Annex A.
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5. A brief in English, French and Spanish outlining the principal effects of the Amendments is
available on the IHO website at www.iho.int > Home > IHO Membership > Protocol of Amendments.
6. The 5th Extraordinary International Hydrographic Conference agreed in Conference Decision No. 2
that “ … those Member States that have not yet ratified the Protocol of Amendments to the IHO
Convention should do so as soon as possible, in order to facilitate the recruitment of new Member States”.
The objective to record an additional two approvals in time to hold the first Assembly in 2017 now seems
within reach. The Directing Committee intends to take all necessary measures, in liaison with the
Government of Monaco and with the relevant Member States, to achieve this goal, building on the
initiatives undertaken since September 2012. In all cases, the Directing Committee remains available to
brief relevant government or diplomatic staff, particularly those based in diplomatic missions in Europe.
Pending Applications
7. The States listed below, whose membership applications were approved in earlier years, have not
yet deposited their Instrument of Accession to the IHO Convention:
Mauritania (application approved in April 1991)
Bulgaria (application approved in April 1992)
Sierra Leone (application approved in September 2010)
Haiti (application approved in November 2012)
The Directing Committee has continued to be in communication with the authorities of these States to
encourage them to complete this final formality.
8. As announced in IHO CLs 32/2015, 62/2015, applications for membership of the IHO were
received from Malta, Vanuatu, Congo and the Solomon Islands. To date these pending applications have
obtained the following number of approvals: Malta – 25; Vanuatu – 25; Congo – 22; Solomon Islands –
22. A list of those IHO Member States that do not seem to have indicated their position is contained in
Annex B.
Accession of New Member States
9. The Directing Committee was delighted to welcome Georgia, Viet Nam and Brunei Darussalam to
the IHO (as announced in IHO CLs 30/2015, 33/2015) as full IHO Members bringing the IHO
Membership to 85 Member States.
Conclusion
10. The Directing Committee encourages those representatives of Member States that have not yet
indicated to the Government of Monaco their position on the approval of the Protocol of Amendments to
the Convention on the IHO to actively follow up this matter with their government authorities, identifying
any problems that may be present and, if needed, seek the assistance of the Directing Committee.
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11. The Directing Committee also encourages those IHO Member States, whose Governments have not
yet indicated to the Government of Monaco their position on the approval of the applications for
membership made by Malta, Vanuatu, Congo and Solomon Islands to actively encourage their government
authorities to consider doing so as soon as possible (see also IHO CL 67/2015).
On behalf of the Directing Committee
Yours sincerely,
Robert WARD
President
Annexes:
A. List of Member States that do not seem to have indicated their position on the approval of the
Protocol of Amendments to the Convention on the IHO.
B. List of Member States that do not seem to have indicated their position on the pending applications
for IHO Membership.
_______
Copy to:
- Pending Member States whose application for membership has been approved: Bulgaria, Haiti,
Mauritania, Sierra Leone.
- States applying for membership: Congo, Malta, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
- Department of External Relations and Cooperation of the Government of Monaco.
Annex A to IHO CL 01/2016
LIST OF MEMBER STATES THAT DO NOT SEEM TO HAVE INDICATED
THEIR POSITION ON THE APPROVAL OF THE PROTOCOL OF AMENDMENTS
TO THE CONVENTION ON THE IHO
Bahrain Nigeria
Colombia Oman
Croatia Philippines
Ecuador Singapore
Egypt Syrian Arab Republic
Fiji Thailand
Guatemala Tonga
Indonesia Trinidad & Tobago
Jamaica Turkey
Kuwait United Arab Emirates
Malaysia Uruguay
Mozambique Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Myanmar
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Annex B to IHO CL 01/2016
LIST OF MEMBER STATES THAT DO NOT SEEM TO HAVE INDICATED
THEIR POSITION ON THE PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR IHO MEMBERSHIP
MALTA
The following Member States do not seem to have indicated to the Government of Monaco their position
on the approval of the application for membership of the IHO made by Malta:
Algeria Mozambique
Bahrain Myanmar
Bangladesh Netherlands
Brazil Nigeria
Cameroon Norway
Canada Oman
Chile Pakistan
China Papua New Guinea
Colombia Peru
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Philippines
Denmark Poland
Ecuador Portugal
Egypt Qatar
Fiji Republic of Korea
Guatemala Russian Federation
India Saudi Arabia
Indonesia Singapore
Iran (Islamic Republic of) Slovenia
Ireland Sweden
Jamaica Syrian Arab Republic
Japan Thailand
Kuwait Tonga
Latvia Trinidad &Tobago
Malaysia Tunisia
Mexico United Arab Emirates
Montenegro Uruguay
Morocco Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
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VANUATU
The following Member States do not seem to have indicated to the Government of Monaco their position
on the approval of the application for membership of the IHO made by Vanuatu:
Algeria Mozambique
Bahrain Myanmar
Bangladesh Netherlands
Brazil Nigeria
Cameroon Norway
Canada Oman
Chile Pakistan
China Papua New Guinea
Colombia Peru
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Philippines
Denmark Poland
Ecuador Portugal
Egypt Qatar
Fiji Republic of Korea
Georgia Russian Federation
Guatemala Saudi Arabia
India Singapore
Indonesia Slovenia
Iran (Islamic Republic of) Sweden
Ireland Syrian Arab Republic
Jamaica Thailand
Japan Tonga
Kuwait Trinidad & Tobago
Latvia Tunisia
Malaysia United Arab Emirates
Mexico Uruguay
Montenegro Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Morocco Viet Nam
4
CONGO (Republic of the)
The following Member States do not seem to have indicated to the Government of Monaco their position
on the approval of the application for membership of the IHO made by Congo:
Algeria Morocco
Argentina Mozambique
Australia Myanmar
Bahrain Netherlands
Bangladesh New Zealand
Brazil Nigeria
Cameroon Norway
Canada Oman
Chile Pakistan
China Papua New Guinea
Colombia Peru
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Philippines
Denmark Poland
Ecuador Portugal
Egypt Qatar
Fiji Republic of Korea
Georgia Russian Federation
Guatemala Saudi Arabia
India Singapore
Indonesia Slovenia
Iran (Islamic Republic of) Sweden
Ireland Syrian Arab Republic
Jamaica Thailand
Japan Tonga
Kuwait Trinidad & Tobago
Latvia Tunisia
Malaysia United Arab Emirates
Mauritius Uruguay
Mexico Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Montenegro Viet Nam
5
SOLOMON ISLANDS
The following Member States do not seem to have indicated to the Government of Monaco their position
on the approval of the application for membership of the IHO made by the Solomon Islands:
Algeria Morocco
Argentina Mozambique
Australia Myanmar
Bahrain Netherlands
Bangladesh New Zealand
Brazil Nigeria
Cameroon Norway
Canada Oman
Chile Pakistan
China Papua New Guinea
Colombia Peru
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Philippines
Denmark Poland
Ecuador Portugal
Egypt Qatar
Fiji Republic of Korea
Georgia Russian Federation
Guatemala Saudi Arabia
India Singapore
Indonesia Slovenia
Iran (Islamic Republic of) Sweden
Ireland Syrian Arab Republic
Jamaica Thailand
Japan Tonga
Kuwait Trinidad & Tobago
Latvia Tunisia
Malaysia United Arab Emirates
Mauritius Uruguay
Mexico Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Montenegro Viet Nam
From: REG <
[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 12:56 PM
To: 'Argentina'; 'Argentina'; 'Australia'; 'Australia'; 'Bahrain';
'Bahrain';
'Bangladesh'; 'Bangladesh3'; 'Banglasedh2'; 'Belgium'; 'Belgium';
'Belgium';
'Belgium'; 'Belgium'; 'Belgium'; 'Brazil'; 'Brazil'; 'Brunei'; 'Brunei';
'Canada';
'Canada'; 'Chile'; 'Chile'; 'China'; 'China'; 'Croatia'; 'Croatia';
'Croatia'; 'Cuba';
'Cuba'; 'Cyprus'; 'Denmark'; 'Denmark'; 'Denmark'; 'DomRep'; 'DPRK';
'DPRK';
'Egypt-ENHG'; T�nis Siilanarusk; VA_hnt; 'Fiji'; 'Fiji'; 'Finland';
'France';
'Georgia'; 'Germany'; 'Germany'; 'Germany'; 'Greece'; 'Greece';
'Guatemala';
'Iceland'; 'India'; 'India'; 'Indonesia'; 'Indonesia'; 'Iran'; 'Iran';
'Iran'; 'Iran';
'Ireland'; 'Italy'; 'Jamaica'; 'Japan'; 'Korea'; 'Kuwait'; 'Latvia';
'Malaysia';
'Malaysia'; 'Mauritius'; 'Mauritius'; 'Mauritius'; 'Montenegro';
'Mozambique';
'Mozambique'; 'Mozambique'; 'Myanmar'; 'Myanmar'; 'Myanmar';
'Myanmar'; 'Netherlands'; 'NewZealand'; 'Nigeria'; 'Norway'; 'Oman';
'Oman';
'Pakistan'; 'PapuaNG'; 'Philippines'; 'Poland'; 'Portugal'; 'Portugal';
'Portugal';
'Qatar'; 'Romania'; 'Russia'; 'SAfrica'; 'SaudiArabia'; 'SaudiArabia';
'Singapore';
'Slovenia'; 'Slovenia'; 'SriLanka'; 'Suriname'; 'Suriname'; 'Suriname';
'Sweden';
'Sweden'; 'Syria'; 'Thailand'; 'Thailand'; 'Thailand'; 'Tonga'; 'Tonga';
'Trinidad';
'Trinidad'; 'Tunisia'; 'Tunisia'; 'Turkey'; 'UAE'; 'Ukraine'; 'Ukraine';
'UnitedKingdom'; 'Uruguay'; 'USNAVY'; 'USNOAA'; 'USNOAA'; 'USNOAA';
'USNOAA'; 'USNOAA'; 'Venezuela'; 'Vietnam'; 'Astrid.Kalvik'; 'C
Andreasen';
'Celine Buisson Rosvold'; 'ECC'; 'eva.hegland'; 'hs-varna';
'ilda.becirovic'; 'info';
'inst.cartograf'; 'J Lowell NGA'; 'J Rogers NGA'; 'jacek.jagodzinski'; 'K
Alexander
NGA'; 'Minika Bjorge'; 'P Doherty NGA'; 'solvi.tunge'; 'stig.osaland';
'svein.skjaeveland'; 'tonje.mevatne'; 'tore.halset'
Subject: CL 1/2016
Attachments: CL01.doc
Dear Hydrographer,
Please find attached herewith :
CL 1/2016 : STATUS REPORT ON APPROVALS OF AMENDMENTS TO
THE CONVENTION ON THE IHO AND ON PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR IHO MEMBERSHIP
AND ACCESSION OF NEW MEMBER STATES
Yours sincerely,
IHB
M.MOLLET