Resolution on the frequency of meetings of the International Whaling Commission

Resolution 2004-7
RESOLUTION ON THE FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS OF THE
INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION
AWARE that the Rules of Procedure of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) provide for a regular
Annual Meeting of the Commission, and that the positions of Chair and Vice-Chair of the IWC shall serve
for a period of three years;
NOTING that other international Conventions dealing with fisheries, species, biodiversity and the
environment organise their affairs very effectively on the basis of biennial or triennial meetings;
CONCERNED that the costs of the annual meetings of the IWC are increasing from year to year;
NOTING that many Contracting Parties, especially from developing countries, have difficulty in meeting the
high costs of attending annual meetings of the Commission;
NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION HEREBY DECIDES:
That the principle of meetings of the IWC being held less frequently than regular Annual Meetings be
explored;
That, in applying this principle, the intention should be to avoid holding more frequent inter-sessionary
meetings as a counter-balancing measure;
That a working group be established by the Commission to investigate and make recommendations on the
implications of less frequent meetings of the IWC;
That, in its deliberations, the working group should have particular regard to the implications of less frequent
meetings for the term of office of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Commission; for the work of the other
Committees of the IWC; and, with specific regard to the deliberations of the Scientific Committee, that the
group should examine whether the current pattern of holding annual meetings should be maintained in the
initial years of the new arrangements at least;
That the working group should report to IWC 57 in Ulsan, Republic of Korea.