17. PRIOR REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC PERMITS

(from "Chairman's Report of the Thirty-First Annual Meeting")


The Commission had obtained legal opinion which indicated that amendment of the Schedule to require prior review of Scientific Permits is permissible within the Convention.

The Technical Committee, by a majority decision, recommended the addition of the following paragraph:

A Contracting Government shall provide the Secretariat with proposed scientific permits before they are issued and in sufficient time to allow the Scientific Committee to review and comment on them. The proposed permits should specify:

(a)
objectives of the research;
(b)
number, sex, size and stock of the animals to be taken;
(c)
opportunities for participation in the research by scientists of other nations; and
(d)
possible effect on conservation of the stock.

Proposed permits shall be reviewed and commented on by the Scientific Committee at Annual Meetings when possible. When permits would be granted prior to the next Annual Meeting, the Secretary shall send the proposed permits to members of the Scientific Committee by mail for their comment and review. Preliminary results of any research resulting from the permits should be made available at the next Annual Meeting of the Scientific Committee.

Possible conflicts of this proposal with Article V of the Convention and states' sovereign rights were raised, but the Commission adopted the proposal by 13 votes in favour to 4 against, with 6 abstentions.

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