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The Antarctic Treaty
Signed Location	December 1, 1959 Washington D. C., USA
Effective Condition	June 23, 1961 12 ratifications
Expiration	2041
Parties	12 original signatories

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty, entering into force in 1961 and eventually signed by 47 countries, sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on that continent. The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat headquarters are located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since September 2004^[1].

The Antarctic Treaty System

The Main Antarctic Treaty

The main treaty was opened for signature on December 1, 1959, and officially entered into force on June 23, 1961.^[2] The original signatories were the 12 countries active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–58 and willing to accept a US invitation to the conference at which the treaty was negotiated. The twelve countries had significant interests in Antarctica at the time: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries had established over 50 Antarctic stations for the IGY. The treaty was a diplomatic expression of the operational and scientific cooperation that had been achieved "on the ice".

Articles of the Antarctic Treaty

• Article 1 – area to be used for peaceful purposes only; military activity, such as weapons testing, is prohibited, but military personnel and equipment may be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose;
• Article 2 – freedom of scientific investigation and cooperation shall continue;
• Article 3 – free exchange of information and personnel in cooperation with the United Nations and other international agencies;
• Article 4 – the treaty does not recognize, dispute, nor establish territorial sovereignty claims; no new claims shall be asserted while the treaty is in force;
• Article 5 – prohibits nuclear explosions or disposal of radioactive wastes;
• Article 6 – includes under the treaty all land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees 00 minutes south;
• Article 7 – treaty-state observers have free access, including aerial observation, to any area and may inspect all stations, installations, and equipment; advance notice of all activities and of the introduction of military personnel must be given;
• Article 8 – allows for jurisdiction over observers and scientists by their own states;
• Article 9 – frequent consultative meetings take place among member nations;
• Article 10 – treaty states will discourage activities by any country in Antarctica that are contrary to the treaty;
• Article 11 – disputes to be settled peacefully by the parties concerned or, ultimately, by the International Court of Justice;
• Articles 12, 13, 14 – deal with upholding, interpreting, and amending the treaty among involved nations.

The main objective of the ATS is to ensure in the interests of all humankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord. The treaty forbids any measures of a military nature, but not the presence of military personnel.

Other agreements

This 1959 cover commemorated the opening of the Wilkes post office in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Disposal of waste by simply dumping it at the shoreline such as here at the Russian Bellingshausen base is no longer permitted by the Protocol on Environmental Protection

Other agreements — some 200 recommendations adopted at treaty consultative meetings and ratified by governments — include:

• Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora (1964) (entered into force in 1982)
• The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972)
• The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980)
• The Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (1988) (although it was signed in 1988, it was subsequently rejected and never entered into force)
• The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed October 4, 1991 and entered into force January 14, 1998; this agreement prevents development and provides for the protection of the Antarctic environment through five specific annexes on marine pollution, fauna and flora, environmental impact assessments, waste management, and protected areas. It prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except scientific. A sixth annex — on liability arising from environmental emergencies — was adopted in 2005 but is yet to enter into force.

Meetings

The Antarctic Treaty System's yearly Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) are the international forum for the administration and management of the region. Only 28 of the 46 parties to the agreements have the right to participate in decision-making at these meetings, though the other 18 are still allowed to attend. The decision-making participants are the Consultative Parties and, in addition to the 12 original signatories, include 16 countries that have demonstrated their interest in Antarctica by carrying out substantial scientific activity there.^[3]

Members

     signatory, consulting, territorial claim      signatory, consulting, reserved right for territorial claim      signatory, consulting      signatory, acceding status      non-signatory

Note: The table can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.

Country[4]	Original signatory	Consultative	Acceding
Argentina (claim)*	June 23, 1961
Australia (claim)	June 23, 1961
Austria			August 25, 1987
Belarus			December 27, 2006
Belgium	July 26, 1960
Brazil		September 12, 1983	May 16, 1975
Bulgaria		May 25, 1998	September 11, 1978
Canada			May 4, 1988
Chile (claim)*	June 23, 1961
China		October 7, 1985	June 8, 1983
Colombia			January 31, 1989
Cuba			August 16, 1984
Czech Republic (as Czechoslovakia)			June 14, 1962
Denmark			May 20, 1965
Ecuador		November 19, 1990	September 15, 1987
Estonia			May 17, 2001
Finland		October 9, 1989	May 15, 1984
France (claim)	September 16, 1960
Germany (claim) (rests since 1945) East Germany		March 3, 1981 October 5, 1987	February 5, 1979 November 19, 1974
Greece			January 8, 1987
Guatemala			July 31, 1991
Hungary			January 27, 1984
India		September 12, 1983	August 19, 1983
Italy		October 5, 1987	March 18, 1981
Japan	August 4, 1960
Monaco			May 30, 2008
Netherlands		November 19, 1990	March 30, 1967
New Zealand (claim)	November 1, 1960
North Korea			January 21, 1987
Norway (claim)	August 24, 1960
Papua New Guinea			March 16, 1981
Peru		October 9, 1989	April 10, 1981
Poland		July 29, 1977	June 8, 1961
Romania			September 15, 1971
Russia (as Soviet Union)**	November 2, 1960
Slovakia (as Czechoslovakia)			June 14, 1962
South Africa	June 21, 1960
South Korea		October 9, 1989	November 28, 1986
Spain		September 21, 1988	March 31, 1982
Sweden		September 21, 1988	March 24, 1984
Switzerland			November 15, 1990
Turkey			January 25, 1996
Ukraine		May 27, 2004	October 28, 1992
United Kingdom (claim)*	May 31, 1960
United States**	August 18, 1960
Uruguay		October 7, 1985	January 11, 1980
Venezuela			May 24, 1999

* Claims overlap.
** Reserved the right to claim areas.

Currently, there are 46 treaty member nations: 28 consultative and 18 acceding. Consultative (voting) members include the seven nations that claim portions of Antarctica as national territory. The 21 non-claimant nations either do not recognize the claims of others, or have not stated their positions.

Antarctic Treaty Secretariat

The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat was established in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September 2004 by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM). Mr. Jan Huber (from the Netherlands) served as the first Executive Secretary for 5 years until August 31, 2009. He was succeeded on September 1, 2009 by Mr. Manfred Reinke (Germany), appointed for a 4 year term.

The tasks of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat can be divided into the following areas:

• Supporting the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and the meeting of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP).
• Facilitating the exchange of information between the Parties required in the Treaty and the Environment Protocol.
• Collecting, storing, arranging and publishing the documents of the ATCM.
• Providing and disseminating public information about the Antarctic Treaty system and Antarctic activities.

There are 46 countries that own bases in Antarctica.

Legal system

Antarctica has no "permanent population" and hence no citizenship or government. All personnel present on Antarctica at any time are citizens or nationals of some sovereignty outside of Antarctica, as there is no Antarctic sovereignty. The majority of Antarctica is claimed by one or more countries, but most countries do not explicitly recognize those claims. The area on the mainland between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west, combined with the interior of the Norwegian Sector (the extent of which has never been officially defined)^{[citation needed]}, is the only major land on Earth not claimed by any country.^[5]

Governments that are party to the Antarctic Treaty and its Protocol on Environmental Protection implement the articles of these agreements, and decisions taken under them, through national laws. These laws generally apply only to their own citizens, wherever they are in Antarctica, and serve to enforce the consensus decisions of the consultative parties: about which activities are acceptable, which areas require permits to enter, what processes of environmental impact assessment must precede activities, and so on. The Antarctic Treaty is often considered to represent an example of the Common heritage of mankind principle.^[6]

Argentina

According to Argentine regulations, any crime committed within 50 kilometers of any Argentine base is to be judged in Ushuaia (as capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands). In the part of Argentine Antarctica that is also claimed by Chile, the person to be judged can ask to be transferred there.^{[citation needed]}

Australia

Since the designation of the Australian Antarctic Territory pre-dated the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, some of the complex suite of Australian laws that relate to Antarctica date from more than two decades before the Antarctic Treaty era. In terms of criminal law, the laws that apply to the Jervis Bay Territory (which follows the laws of the Australian Capital Territory) apply to the Australian Antarctic Territory. Key Australian legislation applying Antarctic Treaty System decisions include the Antarctic Treaty Act 1960, the Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protection) Act 1980 and the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Conservation Act 1981.^[7]

United States

The law of the United States, including certain criminal offenses by or against U.S. nationals, such as murder, may apply to areas not under jurisdiction of other countries.^{[citation needed]} To this end, the United States now stations special deputy U.S. Marshals in Antarctica to provide a law enforcement presence.^[8]

Some U.S. laws directly apply to Antarctica. For example, the Antarctic Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. section 2401 et seq., provides civil and criminal penalties for the following activities, unless authorized by regulation or statute:

• the taking of native Antarctic mammals or birds
• the introduction into Antarctica of non-indigenous plants and animals
• entry into specially protected or scientific areas
• the discharge or disposal of pollutants into Antarctica or Antarctic waters
• the importation into the U.S. of certain items from Antarctica

Violation of the Antarctic Conservation Act carries penalties of up to US$10,000 in fines and one year in prison. The Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, Transportation, and the Interior share enforcement responsibilities.

Public Law 95-541, the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978, requires expeditions from the U.S. to Antarctica to notify, in advance, the Office of Oceans and Polar Affairs of the State Department, which reports such plans to other nations as required by the Antarctic Treaty.

Further information is provided by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation.

New Zealand

In 2006, the New Zealand police reported that jurisdictional issues prevented them issuing warrants for potential American witnesses who were reluctant to testify during the Christchurch Coroner's investigation into the poisoning death of Rodney Marks at the South Pole base in May 2000.^[9][10] Dr. Marks died while wintering over at the United States' Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station located at the geographic South Pole. Prior to autopsy, the death was attributed to natural causes by the National Science Foundation and the contractor administering the base. However, an autopsy in New Zealand revealed that Dr. Marks died from methanol poisoning. The New Zealand Police launched an investigation. In 2006, frustrated by lack of progress, the Christchurch Coroner said that it was unlikely that Dr. Marks ingested the methanol knowingly, although there is no certainty that he died as the direct result of the act of another person. During media interviews, the police detective in charge of the investigation criticized the National Science Foundation and contractor Raytheon for failing to co-operate with the investigation.^[11][12][13]

See also

• Map of research stations and territorial claims in Antarctica (2002)
• Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC)
• Plurilateral treaty
• Arctic Council

Notes

External links

• Antarctic Treaty Secretariat
• Full Text of the Antarctic Treaty
• Australian Antarctic Territory
• 28, 2005.3597747204/?searchterm=treaty 70South: Info on the Antarctic Treaty
• National Science Foundation – Office of Polar Programs
• List of all Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings
• An Antarctic Solution for the Koreas San Diego Union-Tribune, August 25, 2005 (Both South Korea and North Korea are members of the Antarctic Treaty)

Antarctic territorial claims Current Adélie Land · Argentine Antarctica · Australian Antarctic Territory · British Antarctic Territory · Chilean Antarctica · Ross Dependency · Queen Maud Land · Peter I Island Potential Brazilian Antarctica · Russian rights to Antarctic claims  · United States' rights to Antarctic claims Former New Swabia · South African territorial claims to Antarctica · Swedish territorial claims to Antarctica

The Continent of Antarctica Main articles Antarctic · History · Climate · Expeditions · Research stations · Territorial claims · Antarctic Treaty System · Communications · Demographics · Economy · Tourism · Transport · Military activity in the Antarctic Antarctica portal Geographic regions Antarctic Peninsula · East Antarctica · West Antarctica · Extreme points of the Antarctic · List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands · Antarctica ecozone Waterways: McMurdo Sound · Ross Sea · Weddell Sea Notable stations Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (US) · Scott Base (NZ) · McMurdo Station (US) · Palmer Station (US) · Frei Montalva (CL) · Vostok Station (RU) · Halley Station (UK) · more... Famous explorers Ernest Shackleton · James Clark Ross · Richard Evelyn Byrd · Roald Amundsen · Douglas Mawson · Robert Falcon Scott · more...

From Wikisource

The Antarctic Treaty

Done at Washington 1 December 1959
Entered into force 23 June 1961

The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America,

RECOGNIZING that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord;

ACKNOWLEDGING the substantial contributions to scientific knowledge resulting from international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica;

CONVINCED that the establishment of a firm foundation for the continuation and development of such cooperation on the basis of freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica as applied during the International Geophysical Year accords with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind;

CONVINCED also that a treaty ensuring the use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and the continuance of international harmony in Antarctica will further the purposes and principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations;

Have agreed as follows:

Article I

1. Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited, inter alia, any measure of a military nature, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvres, as well as the testing of any type of weapon.

2. The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose.

Article II

Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end, as applied during the International Geophysical Year, shall continue, subject to the provisions of the present Treaty.

Article III

1. In order to promote international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica, as provided for in Article II of the present Treaty, the Contracting Parties agree that, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable:

a. information regarding plans for scientific programs in Antarctica shall be exchanged to permit maximum economy of and efficiency of operations;

b. scientific personnel shall be exchanged in Antarctica between expeditions and stations;

c. scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available.

Article IV

Nothing contained in the present Treaty shall be interpreted as:

a. a renunciation by any Contracting Party of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica; b. a renunciation or diminution by any Contracting Party of any basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica which it may have whether as a result of its activities or those of its nationals in Antarctica, or otherwise;

c. prejudicing the position of any Contracting Party as regards its recognition or non-recognition of any other State's rights of or claim or basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica.

No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force.

Article V

1. Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal there of radioactive waste material shall be prohibited.

2. In the event of the conclusion of international agreements concerning the use of nuclear energy, including nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste material, to which all of the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX are parties, the rules established under such agreements shall apply in Antarctica.

Article VI

The provisions of the present Treaty shall apply to the area south of 60 deg. South Latitude, including all ice shelves, but nothing in the present Treaty shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any State under international law with regard to the high seas within that area.

Article VII

1. In order to promote the objectives and ensure the observance of the provisions of the present Treaty, each Contracting Party whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings referred to in Article IX of the Treaty shall have the right to designate observers to carry out any inspection provided for by the present Article. Observers shall be nationals of the Contracting Parties which designate them. The names of observers shall be communicated to every other Contracting Party having the right to designate observers, and like notice shall be given of the termination of their appointment.

2. Each observer designated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall have complete freedom of access at any time to any or all areas of Antarctica.

3. All areas of Antarctica, including all stations, installations and equipment within those areas, and all ships and aircraft at points of discharging or embarking cargoes or personnel in Antarctica, shall be open at all times to inspection by any observers designated in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.

4. Aerial observation may be carried out at any time over any or all areas of Antarctica by any of the Contracting Parties having the right to designate observers.

5. Each Contracting Party shall, at the time when the present Treaty enters into force for it, inform the other Contracting Parties, and thereafter shall give them notice in advance, of a. all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the part of its ships or nationals, and all expeditions to Antarctica organized in or proceeding from its territory;

b. all stations in Antarctica occupied by its nationals; and c. any military personnel or equipment intended to be introduced by it into Antarctica subject to the conditions prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article I of the present Treaty.

Article VIII

1. In order to facilitate the exercise of their functions under the present Treaty, and without prejudice to the respective positions of the Contracting Parties relating to jurisdiction over all other persons in Antarctica, observers designated under paragraph 1 of Article VII and scientific personnel exchanged under sub-paragraph 1(b) of Article III of the Treaty, and members of the staffs accompanying any such persons, shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party of which they are nationals in respect of all acts or omissions occurring while they are in Antarctica for the purpose of exercising their functions.

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, and pending the adoption of measures in pursuance of subparagraph 1(e) of Article IX, the Contracting Parties concerned in any case of dispute with regard to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica shall immediately consult together with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution.

Article IX

1. Representatives of the Contracting Parties named in the preamble to the present Treaty shall meet at the City of Canberra within two months after the date of entry into force of the Treaty, and thereafter at suitable intervals and places, for the purpose of exchanging information, consulting together on matters of common interest pertaining to Antarctica, and formulating and considering, and recommending to their Governments, measures in furtherance of the principles and objectives of the Treaty, including measures regarding:

a. use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only;

b. facilitation of scientific research in Antarctica;

c. facilitation of international scientific cooperation in Antarctica;

d. facilitation of the exercise of the rights of inspection provided for in Article VII of the Treaty;

e. questions relating to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica;

f. preservation and conservation of living resources in Antarctica.

2. Each Contracting Party which has become a party to the present Treaty by accession under Article XIII shall be entitled to appoint representatives to participate in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article, during such times as that Contracting Party demonstrates its interest in Antarctica by conducting substantial research activity there, such as the establishment of a scientific station or the despatch of a scientific expedition.

3. Reports from the observers referred to in Article VII of the present Treaty shall be transmitted to the representatives of the Contracting Parties participating in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article.

4. The measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall become effective when approved by all the Contracting Parties whose representatives were entitled to participate in the meetings held to consider those measures.

5. Any or all of the rights established in the present Treaty may be exercised as from the date of entry into force of the Treaty whether or not any measures facilitating the exercise of such rights have been proposed, considered or approved as provided in this Article.

Article X

Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to exert appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the end that no one engages in any activity in Antarctica contrary to the principles or purposes of the present Treaty.

ArticleXI

1. If any dispute arises between two or more of the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of the present Treaty, those Contracting Parties shall consult among themselves with a view to having the dispute resolved by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful means of their own choice.

2. Any dispute of this character not so resolved shall, with the consent, in each case, of all parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice for settlement; but failure to reach agreement on reference to the International Court shall not absolve parties to the dispute from the responsibility of continuing to seek to resolve it by any of the various peaceful means referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article XII

1a. The present Treaty may be modified or amended at any time by unanimous agreement of the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX. Any such modification or amendment shall enter into force when the depositary Government has received notice from all such Contracting Parties that they have ratified it.

b. Such modification or amendment shall thereafter enter into force as to any other Contracting Party when notice of ratification by it has been received by the depositary Government. Any such Contracting Party from which no notice of ratification is received within a period of two years from the date of entry into force of the modification or amendment in accordance with the provision of subparagraph 1(a) of this Article shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the present Treaty on the date of the expiration of such period.

2a. If after the expiration of thirty years from the date of entry into force of the present Treaty, any of the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX so requests by a communication addressed to the depositary Government, a Conference of all the Contracting Parties shall be held as soon as practicable to review the operation of the Treaty.

b. Any modification or amendment to the present Treaty which is approved at such a Conference by a majority of the Contracting Parties there represented, including a majority of those whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX, shall be communicated by the depositary Government to all Contracting Parties immediately after the termination of the Conference and shall enter into force in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article

c. If any such modification or amendment has not entered into force in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph 1(a) of this Article within a period of two years after the date of its communication to all the Contracting Parties, any Contracting Party may at any time after the expiration of that period give notice to the depositary Government of its withdrawal from the present Treaty; and such withdrawal shall take effect two years after the receipt of the notice by the depositary Government.

Article XIII

1. The present Treaty shall be subject to ratification by the signatory States. It shall be open for accession by any State which is a Member of the United Nations, or by any other State which may be invited to accede to the Treaty with the consent of all the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX of the Treaty.

2. Ratification of or accession to the present Treaty shall be effected by each State in accordance with its constitutional processes.

3. Instruments of ratification and instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Government of the United States of America, hereby designated as the depositary Government.

4. The depositary Government shall inform all signatory and acceding States of the date of each deposit of an instrument of ratification or accession, and the date of entry into force of the Treaty and of any modification or amendment thereto.

5. Upon the deposit of instruments of ratification by all the signatory States, the present Treaty shall enter into force for those States and for States which have deposited instruments of accession. Thereafter the Treaty shall enter into force for any acceding State upon the deposit of its instruments of accession.

6. The present Treaty shall be registered by the depositary Government pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article XIV

The present Treaty, done in the English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the United States of America, which shall transmit duly certified copies thereof to the Governments of the signatory and acceding States.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).