8. Such agreements shall contain provision for administration by Commodity Councils set up in accordance with the provisions of Article 47, except that in the case of existing agreements this requirement may be waived by the Organization. 9. Such agreements shall not remain initially in effect for more than five years. The renewal of an agreement shall be subject to the principles governing new agreements set forth in Article 45. At the end of each five years of the continuance of such an agreement the Organization shall prepare and publish a review of the operation of the agreement in the light of the principles set forth in Article 45. If the operation is found to have failed substantially to conform to these principles, and particularly if it is found not to have made substantial progress toward a solution of the underlying commodity problem, the Organization shall provide for termination of the agreement or for revision believed adequate to make it effective for that purpose. 10. Members agree that full publicity shall be given to any intergovernmental commodity agreement proposed or concluded, to the statements of considerations and objectives advanced by the proposing Members, to the operation of the agreement, and to the nature and development of measures adopted to correct the underlying situation which gave rise to the agreement. Article 47. Commodity Councils 1. A Commodity Council shall be established under each intergovernmental commodity agreement involving the regulation of production, trade or prices of that commodity. 2. The voting membership of each Commodity Council shall consist of the representatives of the countries participating in the intergovernmental commodity agreement concerned, and voting power shall be determined in such a way that the participating countries which are largely dependent for consumption on imports of the commodity involved shall, in determinations made relating to the regulation of prices, trade, stocks, production or other substantive matters, have together a voice equal to that of those largely interested in obtaining export markets for the product. 3. Each Commodity Council shall, subject to the approval of the Commodity Commission, adopt such rules of procedure and regulations regarding its activities as it may deem appropriate. 4. Each Commodity Council shall have a non-voting Chairman provided by the Commodity Commission. 5. Each Commodity Council shall make periodic reports to the Commodity Commission as to the operation of the intergovernmental commodity agreement which it administers, and shall make such other special reports as the Commission may specify or as the Council considers to be of value to the Commission. 6. The Secretariat of each Commodity Council shall be provided by the Commodity Commission from the Secretariat of the Organization. Article 48. Additional Obligations of Members in Respect of Members undertake to transmit to the Organization the full text of each intergovernmental commodity agreement in which they are participating at the time of the coming into force of their obligations under this Charter. Members also agree to transmit to the Organization appropriate information regarding the formulation, provisions and operation of such agreements. Members agree to conform with the decisions made by the Conference, upon the recommendation of the Commodity Commission, regarding their continued participation in any such intergovernmental commodity agreement which, after review by the Organization, shall have been found to be inconsistent with the principles of this Charter. Article 49. Exceptions to Provisions Relating to Intergovernmental Commodity Agreements 1. The provisions of Chapter VI are not designed to cover those provisions of intergovernmental commodity agreements which appropriately relate to the protection of public morals; the protection of human, animal or plant life or health; the conservation of reserves of exhaustible natural resources; the equitable distribution of commodities in short supply; or in general to intergovernmental commodity agreements not regulating production, trade or prices: Provided, That such agreements are not used to accomplish results inconsistent with the objectives of Chapter V or Chapter VI. Members agree not to participate in such agreements if they involve the regulation of production, trade or prices unless they are authorized or provided for by a multilateral convention subscribed to by a majority of the nations affected, or unless operated under the Organization. 2. None of the foregoing provisions of Chapter VI is to be interpreted as applying to agreements relating to fissionable materials; to the traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war and to such traffic in other goods and materials as is carried on for the purpose of supplying a military establishment; or, in time of war or other emergency in international relations, to the protection of the essential security interests of a Member. CHAPTER VII. ORGANIZATION SECTION A. FUNCTIONS Article 50. Functions of the Organization It shall be the function of the Organization: 1. To collect, analyze and publish information relating to international trade, including information relating to commercial policy, business practices and commodity problems, and to industrial and general economic development. 2. To provide technical assistance and advice to Members and to other international organizations, including such assistance and advice as may be appropriate in connection with specific projects of industrialization or other economic development. 3. To consult with, and to make recommendations and reports to, Members regarding any matter relating to the purposes of the Organization or the operation of this Charter, including the following: a. Recommendations or determinations relating to the discharge of the responsibilities of the Organization under Chapter IV. b. Recommendations as to measures for implementing the objectives with regard to restrictive business practices, set forth in Chapter V. c. Recommendations regarding the application to commodity arrangements under consideration by Members of the principles governing commodity arrangements set forth in Chapter VI; and recommendations initiating proposals for new commodity arrangements, or proposing such modifications, including termination, of commodity arrangements already concluded, as may be deemed appropriate under the commodity principles or in the general interest. d. Recommendations as to measures for implementing the objectives of the Organization in encouraging and assisting the industrial and general economic development of Member countries. 4. To consult with Members regarding disputes growing out of the provisions of this Charter and to provide a mechanism for the settlement of such disputes. 5. To make recommendations for international agreements designed to improve the bases of trade and to assure just and equitable treatment for the enterprises, skills, capital, arts and technology brought from one country to another, including agreements on the treatment of foreign nationals and enterprises, on the treatment of commercial travelers, on commercial arbitration, and on the avoidance of double taxation. 6. To cooperate with the United Nations and with other specialized international organizations in the attainment of the economic and social objectives of the United Nations and in the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security. 7. Generally to advise and to make recommendations to Members and other international organizations, and to perform any other function appropriate to the purposes of the Organization. SECTION B. STRUCTURE Article 51. Structure of the Organization The Organization shall have as its principal organs: a Conference, an Executive Board, a Commission on Commercial Policy, a Commission on Business Practices, a Commodity Commission and a Secretariat, SECTION C. THE CONFERENCE Article 52. Conference-Membership 1. The Conference shall consist of the representatives of the Members of the Organization. 2. Each Member shall have one representative and may appoint alternates and advisers to its representative on the Conference. 3. No representative on the Conference may represent more than one Member. Article 53. Conference-Voting 1. Each Member shall have one vote in the Conference. 2. Except as may be otherwise provided for in this Charter, decisions of the Conference shall be taken by a majority of the Members present and voting. Article 54. Conference-Sessions, Procedure and Officers 1. The Conference shall meet in regular annual sessions and in such special sessions as occasion may require. Special sessions shall be convoked by the Director General of the Organization at the request of the Executive Board or of a majority of the Members. 2. The Conference shall adopt its own rules of procedure. It shall annually elect its President and other officers. Article 55. Conference-Powers and Duties 1. The Conference shall have final authority to determine the policies of the Organization. It may make recommendations to Members of the Organization and to other international organizations regarding any matter pertaining to the purposes of the Organization. 2. The Conference may, by a vote of two thirds of its Members, determine criteria and set up procedures, for waiving, in exceptional circumstances, obligations of Members undertaken pursuant to Chapter IV of this Charter. 3. The Conference may delegate to the Executive Board authority to exercise or perform any of the powers and duties of the Conference, except such specific powers and duties as are expressly conferred or imposed upon the Conference under the provisions of Chapters II and VII. 4. The Conference shall approve the budget of the Organization and shall apportion the expenses of the Organization among the Members. -5. The Conference shall elect the members of the Executive Board, and on the recommendation of the Executive Board, shall appoint the Director General of the Organization. 6. The Conference shall establish procedures for making the determinations provided for in Article 25 and in paragraph 2(b) of Article 45 whereby any such determinations shall be made through the Organization by consultation among the Members having an important interest in the trade in the product concerned. 7. The Conference shall establish procedures for making the determinations and recommendations provided for in paragraph 3(c) of Article 20; paragraph 2 of Article 29; and Article 30. 8. The Conference may, by two-thirds majority of the votes cast, adopt the standards, nomenclature, terms and forms described in paragraph 7 of Article 16. 9. The Conference shall determine the site of the Organization and shall establish such branch offices as it may consider desirable. Article 56. Interim Tariff Committee 1. There shall be an Interim Tariff Committee which shall act temporarily on behalf of the Organization in the making of recommendations and determinations pursuant to paragraph 3 of Article 18. 2. The Committee shall consist originally of those Members of the Organization which shall have made effective the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade dated____ 194 Any other 'This Agreement refers to the proposed arrangement for the concerted reduction of tariffs and trade barriers among the countries invited by the United States to enter into negotiations for this purpose. It is contemplated that the Agreement would contain schedules of tariff concessions and would incorporate certain of the provisions of Chapter IV of the Charter (e. g., the provisions relating to most-favored-nation treatment, to national treatment on internal taxes and regulations, to quantitative restrictions, etc.). |