RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DELEGATES TO THE OIE I. Statutory aspects 1. Article 2 of the International Agreement of 25 January 1924, which created the Office Internationale des Epizooties (OIE) 1, states that the Office is subject to the authority and control of a Committee composed of Delegates of the contracting Governments and refers to the Organic Statutes for the composition and functions of the said Committee. 2. Article 6 of the Organic Statutes states that the International Committee 2 is composed of technical representatives appointed by the participating States, on the basis of one representative for each State». It is therefore this governing body, thus composed, that meets at least once a year in ordinary session and, notably, elects its President, and the Director General of the OIE (Article 7 and 8 of the Organic Statutes). 3. It is the permanent technical Delegate and he or she alone who represents each State at the meetings of the Assembly, with the possibility of leading a delegation. Article 4 of the Organic Rules states that: The Committee shall be composed of technical representatives appointed by the Member Countries of the Office. Each Member Country shall be represented on the Committee by one permanent technical Delegate. The Delegate may be the head of a Delegation according to the provisions of the General Rules. The permanent technical Delegate shall have one vote in each ballot (Article 5). If the permanent technical Delegate of a Member Country is completely or partially unable to attend the annual meeting of the Assembly (General Session), his government could appoint An Accredited delegate, by ministerial notification, to represent the Country while the permanent Delegate is absent of the meeting. An Accredited Delegate enjoys the same rights and assumes the same responsibilities of a permanent Delegate. 4. Loss of the status of Delegate (through resignation, cancellation of appointment by decision of the Member Country, or death) results in the termination of any elected office that the Delegate may have held in certain governing bodies of the Organisation (Presidency, Council 3, Regional 1 By Resolution XVI from 23 May 2003 the Office became the World Organisation for Animal Health but kept its historical acronym OIE 2 By Resolution 13 from 29 May 2009 the designation «International Committee» was replaced by «World Assembly of Delegates», in short, «the Assembly». 3 By Resolution 33 from 29 May 2009 the term «Administrative Commission» was replaced by «Council».
Commissions). However, in the case of the Specialist Commissions (Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission, Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases, Biological Standards Commission, Aquatic Animal Health Standards Commission), loss of the status of Delegate does not result in the loss of any office to which the Delegate has been elected. 5. It should be noted that Member Countries appoint permanent Delegates by informing the OIE, by means of a notification sent from a competent ministerial authority to the Director General of the OIE (Article 36 of the General Rules). The cancellation of the status of the existing Delegate by the Member Country must be notified to the Director General at the same time as the appointment of the new Delegate. 6. The statutory and organic position of permanent technical Delegates to the OIE is thus determined on bases and in accordance with principles that are sometimes though not always found in international technical organisations: - The Delegate is appointed by the Member Country and represents it on the World Assembly. - The Delegate is a permanent Delegate, meaning that he or she is not only appointed to head the Delegation of the Member Country at each session of the World Assembly, but that, from the time of his or her appointment until any subsequent dismissal, he or she and he or she alone enjoys permanent and full rights to represent the State on the Assembly and to maintain permanent relations with the OIE. - The permanent Delegate is a technical representative, which means that Delegates of Member Countries are chosen by the State taking into account their capabilities and technical expertise in the field of veterinary services and animal disease control. - The interpretation of the concept of technical Delegate by the member Countries leads them generally to appoint the highest officer responsible for the matters concerning animal health and veterinary public health at national level. - The permanent technical Delegate heads the Delegation of the Member Country on the Assembly. He or she exercises the right to vote of the Member Country. He or she may be accompanied by an alternate who, in the absence of the Delegate, enjoys the same prerogatives ( Accredited Delegate, by ministerial notification. See point 3 above). 2
- Ministers or diplomatic authorities who participate in the opening sessions of meetings of the Assembly and who may, in their national hierarchy, be in a position of authority over the Delegate of their country do not have the status of Delegate to the Assembly, and cannot vote on the Committee, other than by express decision of the government of the Country by official accreditation from a governmental authority of a higher level. II. Immunity provisions 7. Article 10 of the Headquarters Agreement granted to the OIE by France states that: unless prevented by reasons of public order, the Government of the French Republic undertakes to authorize, without charge for visas and without delay, the entry and stay in France during the period of their appointment or mission with the Office of Delegates of Member Countries to the Office, including their deputies, experts and observers at the General Sessions of the Office or Conferences and Meetings convened by the Office. By virtue of Article 13 of the Headquarters Agreement, Delegates are entitled, during the period of their stay in France as required for their participation in the work of the OIE, to immunity in regard to any legal action concerning their deeds performed within the province of their duties and within the limits of their powers. 8. This is extended by Article 35 of the General Rules, which requires the Director General of the OIE to ensure that the Government of the Host Country is prepared to accord to all the Delegates, rapporteurs, observers and members of the Secretariat of the Office taking part in the Conference, the necessary immunities whereby they can quite independently carry out the work which they are called upon to do at the Conference or Meeting. III. Rights and responsibilities of Delegates during the General Sessions of the World Assembly of Delegates. 9. Invitation of Delegates Every year, the Director General of the OIE sends the Delegates of Member Countries an invitation to the next General Session of the Assembly, with the provisional agenda and a detailed timetable for the General Session. In response, the Delegates send information on the actual participation of their country and the list of members of their Delegation (Article 47 of the General Rules). 10. Session allowances The principle of an allowance for travelling expenses coupled with a subsistence allowance for the sessions that the Delegates attend is laid down in Article 13 of the Organic Statutes. This fixed session allowance is paid under the OIE budget, which is itself adopted 3
each year by the Assembly. It is paid to Delegates of Countries wishing to avail themselves of this possibility, on condition that the Member Country not owe more than two years of arrears of the statutory contributions (Art. 3 of the General Rules) 11. Registration of Delegates The Delegates, alternates and other members of the Delegation must report to the Secretariat of the OIE to complete the registration formalities and to receive the appropriate documents before the opening of the General Session (Article 53 of the General Rules). 12. Participation in the sessions Article 54 of the General Rules lays down the principle that each Delegation shall be placed in alphabetical order, according to the name in the French language of its Country, in the Conference Hall at Headquarters. 13. Participation in voting Article 3 of the General Rules lays down quite strict rules. The principle is that the Delegate of a Member Country shall not take part in voting within the Assemblyif his or her country is more than two years in arrears with its statutory contributions. Furthermore, loss of voting rights for the above reason may lead to the loss of the right to the session allowance for the Delegate referred to in Article 13 of the Organic Statutes (see above, No. 10). The position of the Council and of the Credentials Committee in this respect is taken into account. 14. The Assembly may nevertheless reject the withdrawal of voting rights in the case of exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the Member Country or if the Delegation is able to guarantee the rapid payment of contribution arrears. The Assembly then reaches its decision, following a proposal submitted, in the former case, by the Council and, in the latter case, by the Credentials Committee. The fixed allowance may be withheld in connection with the loss of voting rights due to nonpayment of contribution arrears (see above, No.10 and 13). 15. Official duties At each General Session of the Assembly, the national Delegate, or his or her alternate, presents a report on the health position and the methods of prophylaxis applied in his or her country (Article 50 of the General Rules). This report is included in the documents of the Assembly. The Delegate must notify the OIE of animal diseases present in the Member Country, in accordance with Chapter 1.1 of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code and the Aquatic Animal Health Code and notify the OIE electronically the immediate notifications, the follow-up reports, the six-monthly 4
reports and the annual report. For that purpose, the OIE conveys a password to the new appointed Delegates from their nomination in order to let them gain access to the system 4. The Delegate must at all times ensure that the animal health legislation in his or her country is based on the reference standards of the OIE and, if necessary, on a scientific risk analysis, also carried out in accordance with the reference methods and standards of the OIE (Section 2 of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code and the Aquatic Animal Health Code), and in accordance with the WTO SPS Agreement, for countries that are members of that organisation. IV. Rights and responsibilities of Delegates with respect to maintaining permanent relations with the OIE 16. In addition to the disease notification obligations referred to above (No. 15), the Delegate ensures that, as far as possible, the resolutions of the World Assembly are applied, if they fall within the scope of his or her national responsibilities. In all cases he or she is responsible for bringing them to the attention of his or her Government and for helping to brief representatives of his or her country attending meetings of relevant intergovernmental organisations of which the country is a member, should he or she not attend them in person. He or she must also ensure that the Veterinary Services and that animal disease diagnostic laboratories of his or her country are kept updated on OIE standards and that they are aware of the existence of the OIE worldwide network of Reference Laboratories and Collaborating Centres, so that, where necessary scientific and technical cooperation in this field can be developed. 17. The Delegate must ensure the regular payment of statutory annual contributions of his/her country to the OIE, following the content of Article 4 of the International Agreement for the creation of the OIE and Article 5 of the Financial Regulations. For this purpose, the Delegate is requested to answer to the call for contributions, which is done systematically every year after the General Session 5. 18. The Delegate is encouraged, if necessary with the approval of his or her superiors, to designate national focal points to provide him or her with support in the following fields: animal health 4 Resolution XXI from 27 May 2004 on the implementation of the new OIE s World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS), entering into force in January 2005. 5 The Article 5.2 of the Financial Regulations of the OIE states that Following the General Session of the Committee during which the budget for the subsequent financial year was approved, the OIE shall inform the government of its Member Countries of the contribution amounts established 5
information, wildlife diseases, aquatic animal diseases, veterinary medicinal products, animal production food safety, animal welfare and communication. 19. Applications for the title of Reference Laboratory or Collaborating Centre of the OIE shall be submitted to the Director General by the Delegate of the Member Country to which the laboratory belongs. Regarding twining projects, the agreement of the OIE Delegates of the countries of the Parent Laboratory and of the Candidate Laboratory will be sought. 20. The Delegates should participate, so far as possible, to the meetings of the Regional Commissions (Regional Conferences) to which their country belongs 6. The OIE Regional Commissions are bodies of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) established by decision of the Assembly of the OIE to further the objectives of the OIE in each region of the world. The statutory basis, Term of Reference and Internal Rules of the Regional Commissions are stated in Chapter III of the General Rules of the OIE and Resolution XVIII from 26 May 2006. The Regional Conferences shall be convened by the Director General. Invitations to the countries concerned to take part in a Regional Conference shall be sent by the Director General to the Delegates of these countries. Delegates must reply to these invitations, confirming their participation and communicating the composition of their delegation. 21. At the regional level, The Delegates are invited to remain in regular contact with the OIE Regional or Sub Regional Representation to which their country depends on. 6 As stated in Resolution XVIII from 26 May 2006, When Countries accede to the OIE through diplomatic channels they automatically become members of the corresponding OIE Region. There are five Regional Commissions (Africa; the Americas; Asia, the Far East and Oceania; Europe; and the Middle East). 6