C-III/2

	OPCW	Conference of the States Parties
Third Session			C-III/2
16 - 20 November 1998				19 November 1998
				Original: ENGLISH

CREDENTIALS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE THIRD SESSION

OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE STATES PARTIES

Report of the Credentials Committee

1. Introduction

1.1 On 16 November 1998, upon the proposal of the Chairman of the Conference, in accordance with Rule 27 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference of the States Parties (C-I/3), the Conference appointed the following 10 Member States as members of the Credentials Committee for the Third Session: Algeria, Belgium, Cameroon, Chile, Croatia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Slovakia.

1.2 The Committee met on 19 November 1998 and elected Mr Matthew Broadhead of New Zealand as its Chairman.

1.3 During its meeting, the Committee reviewed Chapter IV of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference and noted in particular the following elements of Rule 26:

(a) credentials designate the representative of a Member State in a given session of the Conference;

(b) the credentials of each representative shall be submitted to the Director-General; and

(c) credentials shall be issued by the head of State or Government or by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Member State concerned or by any other authority acting on their behalf.

2. Examination of credentials

2.1 The Committee had before it a memorandum by the Director-General, dated 18 November 1998, concerning the credentials of representatives of Member States participating in the Third Session of the Conference. On the basis of that memorandum as well as additional information reported at the meeting by the Secretariat, as of 19 November 1998, the Committee determined the following:

(a) formal credentials meeting the requirements of Rule 26 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference, were submitted by 69 Member States: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Venezuela;

(b) faxes or copies of formal credentials or other official communications concerning representatives were received from the following 23 Member States: Albania, Armenia, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark, Georgia, Iceland, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Saudi Arabia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Zimbabwe. In accordance with Rule 28 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference, the representatives of these Member States are participating provisionally in the Third Session pending the submission of credentials satisfying the requirements of Rule 26 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference.

2.2 The Committee agreed that the credentials of the representatives of the Member States referred to in subparagraphs 2.1(a) and 2.1(b) above would be accepted, on the understanding that formal credentials for representatives of the Member States referred to in subparagraph 2.1(b) would be communicated to the Director-General as soon as possible.

3. Recommendation

The Committee unanimously adopted its report to the Conference and recommended that the Conference approve it.

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OPCW

Conference of the States Parties