the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might prejudice their position as international officials. 2. Each Member of the Organization undertakes to respect the international character of the responsibilities of these persons, and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their duties. Article 83. Legal Capacity of the Organization The Organization shall enjoy in the territory of each of its Members such legal capacity as may be necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfilment of its purposes. Article 84. Privileges and Immunities of the Organization 1. The Organization shall enjoy in the territory of each of its Members such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the fulfilment of its purposes. 2. Representatives of the Members of the Organization and its officials shall similarly enjoy such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions in connection with the Organization. 3. The Conference may make recommendations with a view to determining the details of the application of paragraphs 1 and 2 and may propose conventions to the Members for this purpose. Article 85. Amendments to the Charter 1. Amendments to this Charter shall become effective upon receiving the approval of the Conference by the affirmative votes of two thirds of its Members. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, those amendments which involve new obligations on the part of the Members of the Organization shall take effect upon acceptance on the part of two thirds of the Members for each Member accepting the amendments and thereafter for each remaining Member on acceptance by it. In such cases, the Conference may determine that any Member which has not accepted the amendment, within a period specified by the Conference, shall thereupon be obliged to withdraw from the Organization. In the absence of a determination that a Member shall be obliged to withdraw, a Member shall, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 89, have the right to withdraw on due notice as provided in paragraph 2 of that article. 3. The Conference shall, by the affirmative votes of two thirds of its Members, adopt rules of procedure for carrying out the provisions of this article. Article 86. Interpretation and Settlement of Disputes 1. The Chinese, English, French, and Spanish texts of this Charter shall be regarded as equally authoritative. 2. Any question or difference concerning the interpretation of this Charter or arising out of its operation shall be referred to the Executive Board for a ruling thereon. The Executive Board may decide either to give a ruling on the matter itself or to refer it, with the consent of the parties, to arbitration upon such terms as may be agreed by the parties. Any ruling of the Executive Board shall, upon the request of any Member directly affected or, if the ruling is of general application, upon the request of any Member, be referred to the Conference. 3. Any justiciable issue arising out of a ruling of the Conference with respect to the interpretation of subparagraphs (c), (d), (e), or (k) of article 37 or of paragraph 2 of article 59 may be submitted by any party to the dispute to the International Court of Justice, and any justiciable issue arising out of any other ruling of the Conference may, in accordance with such procedures as the Conference shall establish, be submitted by any party to the dispute to the Interpational Court of Justice. The Members accept the jurisdiction of the Court in respect of any dispute submitted to the Court under this article. 4. The Organization may, in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 96 of the Charter of the United Nations, request from the International Court of Justice advisory opinions on legal questions arising within the scope of its activities. Article 87. Payment of Contribution Each Member undertakes to contribute promptly to the Organization its share of the Organization's expenses as apportioned by the Conference. A Member of the Organization which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the Conference if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. The Conference may, nevertheless, permit such a Member to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member. Article 88. Entry Into Force 1. The original of this Charter, as set forth in the Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who will furnish certified copies thereof to all interested governments. 2. Each government accepting this Charter shall deposit an instrument of acceptance with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who will inform all governments represented at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment and all Members of the United Nations of the date of deposit of each instrument of acceptance and of the date on which this Charter enters into force under paragraph 3. [56] 3. This Charter shall enter into force on the sixtieth day following the day on which the number of governments represented at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment which have deposited acceptance pursuant to paragraph 2 shall reach twenty, and the acceptance of each other accepting government shall take effect on the sixtieth day following the day on which the instrument of such acceptance is deposited: Provided, that if this Charter shall not have entered into force by December 31, 194, any of the governments which have made effective the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade dated 194,7 together with any other governments represented at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment may agree to bring this Charter into force among themselves in accordance with arrangements which they may agree upon. Any instrument of acceptance deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be taken as covering both procedures for bringing this Charter into force, unless it expressly provides to the contrary or is withdrawn. 4. Each government accepting this Charter does so in respect of its metropolitan territory and the oversea territories for which it has international responsibility with the exception of those territories which are self-governing in respect of matters provided for by the Charter. Each Member shall notify the Secretary-General of the United Nations of its acceptance of the Charter on behalf of any such self-governing territory willing to undertake the obligations of the Charter, and upon such notification the provisions of the Charter shall become applicable to that territory. Article 89. Withdrawal and Termination 1. Any Member of the Organization may withdraw from the Organization, either on its own behalf or on behalf of an oversea territory which is self-governing in the respect mentioned in paragraph 4 of article 88, at any time after the expiration of three years from the date of the entry into force of this Charter under the provisions of article 88, by written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2. The Secretary-General will immediately inform all other Members of the Organization. 2. The withdrawal shall take effect six months from the date of the receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General: Provided, that the notification may be withdrawn at any time during that period. 3. This Charter may be terminated at any time by agreement of three fourths of the Members of the Organization. The footnote to par. 2 of art. 67 describes this agreement. ANNEXURE A List of Territories Referred to in Subparagraph 2 (a) (ii) of Article 14 Countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its dependent territories, Canada, The Commonwealth of Australia and its dependent territories, The Union of South Africa and South West Africa, Ireland, Newfoundland, Southern Rhodesia, Burma, Ceylon. ANNEXURE B Assignment of Functions With Respect to Intergovernmental Commodity Arrangements Art. 50, par. 1 Art. 50, par. 2 Art. 51, par. 1 Art. 51, par. 2 Receipt of studies, or of request Commodity Commission. Requests to specialized agencies Executive Board on the recommendation of the Commodity Commission. ditto. ditto. Executive Board advised by the Commodity Commission, subject to procedures established by the Conference. 1 With reference to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article, it would appear that the determination whether the circumstances in fact exist in which a regulatory agreement may be used will be made "by consultation among the Members having an important interest in the trade in the product concerned." See Suggested Charter, art. 55, par. 6, read together with art. 66, par. 3, and art. 45, par. 2 (b). |