Grains Trade Convention ^[*]

to further international co-operation in all aspects of trade in grains, especially insofar as these affect the food grain situation;

to promote the expansion of international trade in grains, and to secure the freest possible flow of this trade, including the elimination of trade barriers and unfair and discriminatory practices, in the interest of all members, in particular developing members;

to contribute to the fullest extent possible to the stability of international grain markets in the interests of all members, to enhance world food security, and to contribute to the development of countries whose economies are heavily dependent on commercial sales of grain; and

to provide a forum for exchange of information and discussion of members’ concerns regarding trade in grains.

Any reference in this Convention to a “Government” or “Governments” or “member” shall be construed as including a reference to the European Community (hereinafter referred to as the EC). Accordingly, any reference in this Convention to “signature” or to the “deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, or approval” or “an instrument of accession” or “a declaration of provisional application” by a Government shall, in the case of the EC, be construed as including signature or declaration of provisional application on behalf of the EC by its competent authority and the deposit of the instrument required by the institutional procedures of the EC to be deposited for the conclusion of an international agreement.

Any reference in this Convention to a “Government”, or “Governments”, or “member”, shall be understood, where appropriate, to include a reference to any separate customs territory within the meaning of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or of the Agreement Establishing The World Trade Organization.

To facilitate the achievement of the objectives in Article 1, make possible a fuller exchange of views at Council sessions, and provide information on a continuing basis to serve the general interest of members, arrangements shall be made for regular reports and exchange of information, and also special studies, as appropriate, covering grains, focusing primarily upon the following:

To improve the collection and presentation of information for those reports and studies referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, to make it possible for more members to participate directly in the work of the Council, and to supplement the guidance already given by the Council in the course of its sessions, there shall be established a Market Conditions Committee, whose meetings shall be open to all members of the Council. The Committee shall have the functions specified in Article 16.

If the Market Conditions Committee, in the course of its continuous review of the market under Article 16, is of the opinion that developments in the international grain market seriously threaten to affect the interests of members, or if such developments are called to the Committee’s attention by the Executive Director on his own initiative or at the request of any member of the Council, it shall immediately report the facts concerned to the Executive Committee. The Market Conditions Committee, in so informing the Executive Committee, shall give particular regard to those circumstances which threaten to affect the interests of members.

The Executive Committee shall meet within ten working days to review such developments and, if it deems it appropriate, request the Chairman of the Council to convene a session of the Council to consider the situation.

A commercial purchase for the purposes of this Convention is a purchase as defined in Article 2 which conforms to the usual commercial practices in international trade and which does not include those transactions referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

A special transaction for the purposes of this Convention is one which includes features introduced by the Government of a member concerned which do not conform to usual commercial practices. Special transactions include the following:

Any question raised by the Executive Director or by any member as to whether a transaction is a commercial purchase as defined in paragraph (1) of this Article or a special transaction as defined in paragraph (2) of this Article shall be decided by the Council.

Members undertake to conduct any concessional transactions in grains in such a way as to avoid harmful interference with normal patterns of production and international commercial trade.

To this end both supplying and recipient members shall undertake appropriate measures to ensure that concessional transactions are additional to commercial sales which could reasonably be anticipated in the absence of such transactions, and would increase consumption or stocks in the recipient country. Such measures shall, for countries which are members of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), be consistent with the FAO Principles of Surplus Disposal and Guiding Lines and the consultative obligations of FAO members, and may include the requirement that a specified level of commercial imports of grains agreed with the recipient country be maintained on a global basis by that country. In establishing or adjusting this level, full regard shall be had to the commercial import levels in a representative period, to recent trends in utilisation and imports, and to the economic circumstances of the recipient country, including, in particular, its balance-of-payments situation.

Members, when engaging in concessional export transactions, shall consult with exporting members whose commercial sales might be affected by such transactions to the maximum possible extent before such arrangements are concluded with recipient countries.

The Secretariat shall periodically report to the Council on developments in concessional transactions in grains.

Members shall provide regular reports, and the Council shall maintain records for each crop year, showing separately commercial and special transactions, of all shipments of grain by members and all imports of grain from non-members. The Council shall also maintain, to the extent possible, records of all shipments between non-members.

Members shall provide, as far as possible, such information as the Council may require concerning their grain supply and demand, and report promptly all changes in their national grain policies.

For the purposes of this Article:

In the case of any grain which reaches the country of final destination after resale in, passage through, or transhipment from the ports of, a country other than that in which it originated, members shall to the maximum extent possible make available such information as will enable the shipment to be entered in the records as a shipment between the country of origin and the country of final destination. In the case of a resale, the provisions of this paragraph shall apply if the grain originated in the country of origin during the same crop year.

The Council shall make rules of procedure for the reports and records referred to in this Article. Those rules shall prescribe the frequency and the manner in which those reports shall be made and shall prescribe the duties of members with regard thereto. The Council shall also make provision for the amendment of any records or statements kept by it, including provision for the settlement of any dispute arising in connection therewith. If any member repeatedly and unreasonably fails to make reports as required by this Article, the Executive Committee shall arrange consultations with that member to remedy the situation.

Any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention which is not settled by negotiation shall, at the request of any member which is a party to the dispute, be referred to the Council for decision.

Any member which considers that its interests as a party to this Convention have been seriously prejudiced by actions of any one or more members affecting the operation of this Convention may bring the matter before the Council. In such a case, the Council shall immediately consult with the members concerned in order to resolve the matter. If the matter is not resolved through such consultations, the Council shall consider the matter further and may make recommendations to the members concerned.

The Council (formerly the International Wheat Council, as established by the International Wheat Agreement, 1949, and now renamed the International Grains Council) shall continue in being for the purposes of administering this Convention with the membership, powers and functions provided in this Convention.

Members may be represented at Council meetings by delegates, alternates and advisers.

The Council shall elect a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman who shall hold office for one crop year. The Chairman shall have no vote and the Vice-Chairman shall have no vote while acting as Chairman.

The Council shall establish its Rules of Procedure.

The Council shall keep such records as are required by the terms of this Convention and may keep such other records as it considers desirable.

In order to enable the Council to discharge its functions under this Convention, the Council may request, and members undertake to supply, subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of Article 7, such statistics and information as are necessary for this purpose.

The Council may, by special vote, delegate to any of its committees, or to the Executive Director, the exercise of powers or functions other than the following:

The Council may at any time revoke such delegation by a majority of the votes cast.

Any decision made under any powers or functions delegated by the Council in accordance with paragraph (4) of this Article shall be subject to review by the Council at the request of any member made within a period which the Council shall prescribe. Any decision in respect of which no request for review has been made within the prescribed period shall be binding on all members.

In addition to the powers and functions specified in this Convention the Council shall have such other powers and perform such other functions as are necessary to carry out the terms of this Convention.

For the purposes of the entry into force of this Convention, the calculations under paragraph (1) of Article 28 shall be based on the votes as set out in part A of the Annex.

For the purposes of the assessment of financial contributions under Article 21, the votes of members shall be based on those set out in the Annex, subject to the provisions of this Article and the associated Rules of Procedure.

Whenever this Convention is extended under paragraph (2) of Article 33, the Council shall review and adjust the votes of members under this Article. Such adjustments shall bring the distribution of votes more closely into line with current grain trade patterns, and shall be in accordance with the methods specified in the Rules of Procedure.

If the Council decides that a significant shift in world grain trading patterns has occurred it shall review, and may adjust, the votes of members. Such adjustments shall be regarded as amendments to this Convention, and shall be subject to the provisions of Article 32, except that an adjustment of votes may take effect only at the beginning of a fiscal year. After any adjustment to member’s votes under this paragraph has taken effect, no further such adjustment may be put into effect before three years have elapsed.

All redistributions of votes under this Article shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.

For all purposes regarding the administration of this Convention, other than its entry into force under paragraph (1) of Article 28 and the assessment of financial contributions under Article 21, the votes to be exercised by members shall be as determined under Article 12.

At the first session held under this Convention, the Council shall establish which members shall be exporting members and which members shall be importing members for the purposes of this Convention. In so deciding, the Council shall take account of the grain trading patterns of those members and of their own views.

As soon as the Council has determined which members shall be exporting and which shall be importing members under this Convention, the exporting members, on the basis of their votes under Article 11, shall divide their votes among them as they shall decide, subject to the conditions laid down in paragraph (3) of this Article, and the importing members shall similarly divide their votes.

For the purposes of the allocation of votes under paragraph (2) of this Article, the exporting members shall together hold 1,000 votes, and the importing members shall together hold 1,000 votes. No member shall hold more than 333 votes as an exporting member or more than 333 votes as an importing member. There shall be no fractional votes.

The lists of exporting and importing members shall be reviewed by the Council, in the light of changing patterns in their grain trade, after a period of three years following the entry into force of this Convention. They shall also be reviewed whenever this Convention is extended under paragraph (2) of Article 33.

At the request of any member, the Council may, at the beginning of any fiscal year, agree by special vote to the transfer of that member from the list of exporting members to the list of importing members, or from the list of importing members to the list of exporting members, as appropriate.

The distribution of the votes of exporting and importing members shall be reviewed by the Council whenever the lists of the exporting and importing members are changed under paragraphs (4) or (5) of this Article. Any redistribution of votes under this paragraph shall be subject to the conditions set out in paragraph (3) of this Article.

Whenever any Government becomes, or ceases to be, a party to this Convention, the Council shall redistribute the votes of the other exporting or importing members, as appropriate, in proportion to the number of votes held by each member, subject to the conditions set out in paragraph (3) of this Article.

Any exporting member may authorize any other exporting member, and any importing member may authorise any other importing member, to represent its interests and to exercise its votes at any meeting or meetings of the Council. Satisfactory evidence of such authorisation shall be submitted to the Council.

If at any meeting of the Council a member is not represented by an accredited delegate and has not authorized another member to exercise its votes in accordance with paragraph (8) of this Article, or if at the date of any meeting any member has forfeited, has been deprived of, or has recovered its votes under any provisions of this Convention, the total votes to be exercised by the exporting members at that meeting shall be adjusted to a figure equal to the total of votes to be exercised at that meeting by the importing members and redistributed among exporting members in proportion to their votes.

The seat of the Council shall be in London unless the Council decides otherwise.

The Council shall meet at least once during each half of each fiscal year and at such other times as the Chairman may decide, or as otherwise required by this Convention.

The Chairman shall convene a session of the Council if so requested by (a) five members or (b) one or more members holding a total of not less than 10 per cent of the total votes or (c) the Executive Committee.

The presence of delegates with a majority of the votes held by the exporting members and a majority of the votes held by the importing members, prior to any adjustment of votes under paragraph (9) of Article 12, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Council.

Except where otherwise specified in this Convention, decisions of the Council shall be by a majority of the votes cast by the exporting members and a majority of the votes cast by the importing members, counted separately.

Without prejudice to the complete liberty of action of any member in the determination and administration of its agricultural and price policies, each member undertakes to accept as binding all decisions of the Council under the provisions of this Convention.

The Council shall establish an Executive Committee consisting of not more than six exporting members elected annually by the exporting members and not more than eight importing members elected annually by the importing members. The Council shall appoint the Chairman of the Executive Committee and may appoint a Vice-Chairman.

The Executive Committee shall be responsible to and work under the general direction of the Council. It shall have such powers and functions as are expressly assigned to it under this Convention and such other powers and functions as the Council may delegate to it under paragraph (4) of Article 10.

The exporting members on the Executive Committee shall have the same total number of votes as the importing members. The votes of the exporting members on the Executive Committee shall be divided among them as they shall decide, provided that no such exporting member shall have more than 40 per cent of the total votes of those exporting members. The votes of the importing members on the Executive Committee shall be divided among them as they shall decide, provided that no such importing member shall have more than 40 per cent of the total votes of those importing members.

The Council shall prescribe rules of procedure regarding voting in the Executive Committee and may make such other provision regarding rules of procedure in the Executive Committee as it thinks fit. A decision of the Executive Committee shall require the same majority of votes as this Convention prescribes for the Council when making a decision on a similar matter.

Any member of the Council which is not a member of the Executive Committee may participate, without voting, in the discussion of any question before the Executive Committee whenever the latter considers that the interests of that member are affected.

The Council shall establish a Market Conditions Committee, which shall be a Committee of the whole. The Chairman of the Market Conditions Committee shall be the Executive Director, unless the Council decides otherwise.

Invitations to attend the meetings of the Market Conditions Committee as observers may be extended to representatives of non-member Governments and international organizations, as the Chairman of the Committee considers appropriate.

The Committee shall keep under continuous review, and report to members on, all matters affecting the world grain economy. The Committee shall take account in its review of relevant information supplied by any member of the Council.

The Committee shall supplement the guidance given by the Council to assist the Secretariat in carrying out the work envisaged in Article 3.

The Committee shall advise in accordance with the relevant Articles of this Convention and on any matters which the Council or the Executive Committee may refer to it.

The Council shall have a Secretariat consisting of an Executive Director, who shall be its chief administrative officer, and such staff as may be required for the work of the Council and its Committees.

The Council shall appoint the Executive Director who shall be responsible for the performance of the duties devolving upon the Secretariat in the administration of this Convention, and for the performance of such other duties as are assigned to him by the Council and its Committees.

The staff shall be appointed by the Executive Director in accordance with regulations established by the Council.

It shall be a condition of employment of the Executive Director and of the staff that they do not hold or shall cease to hold financial interest in the grain trade and that they shall not seek or receive instructions regarding their duties under this Convention from any Government or from any other authority external to the Council.

The Council may make whatever arrangements are appropriate for consultation or co-operation with the United Nations, its organs, and such other specialized agencies and intergovernmental organisations as may be appropriate, in particular the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Common Fund for Commodities and the World Food Programme.

The Council, bearing in mind the particular role of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in international commodity trade, will, as it considers appropriate, keep the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development informed of its activities and programmes of work.

If the Council finds that any terms of this Convention are materially inconsistent with such requirements as may be laid down by the United Nations through its appropriate organs or by its specialised agencies regarding intergovernmental commodity agreements, the inconsistency shall be deemed to be a circumstance affecting adversely the operation of this Convention and the procedure prescribed in Article 32 shall be applied.

The Council shall have legal personality. It shall in particular have the capacity to contract, acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property and to institute legal proceedings.

The status, privileges and immunities of the Council in the territory of the United Kingdom shall continue to be governed by the Headquarters Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the International Wheat Council signed at London on 28 November 1968.

The Agreement referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article shall be independent of the present Convention. It shall however terminate:

In the event of the seat of the Council being moved from the United Kingdom, the Government of the member in which the seat of the Council is situated shall conclude with the Council an international agreement relating to the status, privileges and immunities of the Council, its Executive Director, its staff and representatives of members at meetings convened by the Council.

The expenses of delegations to the Council and of representatives on its Committees and working groups shall be met by their respective Governments. The other expenses necessary for the administration of this Convention shall be met by annual contributions from all members. The contribution of each member for each fiscal year shall be in the proportion which the number of its votes in the Annex bears to the total of the votes of members in the Annex, as adjusted under Article 11 to 16 reflect the membership of the Convention at the time when the budget for that fiscal year is adopted.

At its first session after this Convention comes into force, the Council shall approve its budget for the fiscal year ending 30 June 1996, and assess the contribution to be paid by each member.

The Council shall, at a session during the second half of each fiscal year, approve its budget for the following fiscal year and assess the contribution to be paid by each member for that fiscal year.

The initial contribution of any member acceding to this Convention under paragraph (2) of Article 27 shall be assessed on the basis of the votes agreed with the Council as a condition for its accession, and the period of the current fiscal year remaining at the time of accession, but the assessments of contributions to be paid by the other members in that fiscal year shall not be altered.

Contributions shall be payable immediately upon assessment.

If, at the end of six months following the date on which its contribution is due in accordance with paragraph (5) of this Article, a member has not paid its full contribution, the Executive Director shall request the member to make payment as quickly as possible. If, at the expiration of six months after the request of the Executive Director, the member has still not paid its contribution, its voting rights in the Council and in the Executive Committee shall be suspended until such time as it has made full payment of the contribution.

A member whose voting rights have been suspended under paragraph (6) of this Article shall not be deprived of any of its other rights or relieved of any of its obligations under this Convention, unless the Council so decides by special vote. It shall remain liable to pay its contribution and to meet any other of its financial obligations under this Convention.

The Council shall, each fiscal year, publish an audited statement of its receipts and expenditures in the previous fiscal year.

The Council shall, prior to its dissolution, provide for the settlement of its liabilities and the disposal of its records and assets.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is hereby designated as the depositary of this Convention.

The depositary shall notify all signatory and acceding Governments of each signature, ratification, acceptance, approval, provisional application of, and accession to, this Convention, as well as each notification and notice received under Articles 29 and 32.

This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by each signatory Government in accordance with its respective constitutional procedures.

Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the depositary not later than 30 June 1995. The Council may, however, grant one or more extensions of time to any signatory Government which is unable to deposit its instrument by that date. The Council shall inform the depositary of all such extensions of time.

Any Government listed in the Annex may accede to the present Convention until and including 30 June 1995, except that the Council may grant one or more extensions of time to any Government which has not deposited its instrument by that date.

This Convention shall be open for accession after 30 June 1995 by the Governments of all States upon such conditions as the Council considers appropriate. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the depositary. Such instruments of accession shall state that the Government accepts all the conditions established by the Council.

Where, for the purposes of the operation of this Convention, reference is made to members listed in the Annex, any member the Government of which has acceded to this Convention on conditions prescribed by the Council in accordance with this Article shall be deemed to be listed in the Annex.

This Convention shall enter into force on 1 July 1995 if instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, or declarations of provisional application have been deposited not later than 30 June 1995 on behalf of Governments listed in part A of the Annex holding, at least, 88 per cent of the total votes set out in part A of the Annex.

If this Convention does not enter into force in accordance with paragraph (1) of this Article, the Governments which have deposited instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, or declarations of provisional application, may decide by mutual consent that it shall enter into force between themselves.

The Council shall determine any settlement of accounts which it finds equitable with a member which has withdrawn from this Convention or which has been excluded from the Council, or has otherwise ceased to be a party to this Convention. The Council shall retain any amounts already paid by such member. Such member shall be bound to pay any amounts due from it to the Council.

Upon termination of this Convention, any member referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall not be entitled to any share of the proceeds of the liquidation or the other assets of the Council; nor shall it be burdened with any part of the deficit, if any, of the Council.

The Council may by special vote recommend to members an amendment of this Convention. The amendment shall become effective 100 days after the depositary has received notifications of acceptance from exporting members which hold two thirds of the votes of the exporting members and by importing members which hold two thirds of the votes of the importing members, or on such later date as the Council may have determined by special vote. The Council may fix a time within which each member shall notify the depositary of its acceptance of the amendment and, if the amendment has not become effective by such time, it shall be considered withdrawn. The Council shall provide the depositary with the information necessary to determine whether the notifications of acceptance received are sufficient to make the amendment effective.

Any member on behalf of which notification of acceptance of an amendment has not been made by the date on which such amendment becomes effective shall as of that date cease to be a party to this Convention, unless such member has satisfied the Council that acceptance could not be secured in time owing to difficulties in completing its constitutional procedures and the Council decides to extend for such member the period fixed for acceptance. Such member shall not be bound by the amendment before it has notified its acceptance thereof.

This Convention shall remain in force until 30 June 1998, unless extended under paragraph (2) of this Article, or terminated earlier under paragraph (3) of this Article, or replaced before that date by a new agreement or convention negotiated under Article 22.

The Council may, by special vote, extend this Convention beyond 30 June 1998 for successive periods not exceeding two years on each occasion. Any member which does not accept such extension of this Convention shall so inform the Council at least thirty days prior to the extension coming into force. Such a member shall cease to be a party to this Convention from the beginning of the period of extension, but it shall not thereby be released from any obligations under this Convention which have not been discharged prior to that date.

The Council may at any time decide, by special vote, to terminate this Convention with effect from such date and subject to such conditions as it may determine.

Upon termination of this Convention, the Council shall continue in being for such time as may be required to carry out its liquidation and shall have such powers and exercise such functions as may be necessary for that purpose.

The Council shall notify the depositary of any action taken under paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) of this Article.