27. ACCESS BY THE PRESS TO THE PLENARY AND TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETINGS (1996)

27. ACCESS BY THE PRESS TO THE PLENARY AND TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETINGS

(from "Chairman's Report of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting")

Last year the Danish delegation introduced a new agenda item to discuss the issue of offering the press an equal standard of attendance as the NGOs currently enjoy, including access to meeting rooms and to relevant IWC documents. There was widespread support for the Danish proposal. The Finance and Administration Committee recommended that the Commission adopt this proposal to give the press the same privileges as are currently enjoyed by NGOs (subject to practical and logistical considerations and noting that the present Rules of Conduct for Observers prohibit the entry and use of recording equipment).

In the Plenary, Japan asked if the Press would be charged a fee and if TV cameras and lights would be allowed in. Further discussion indicated that no cameras or recording equipment were to be admitted, but the question of equal treatment of NGOs and the Press with regard to documents and fees was unclear and had not been addressed in the Finance and Administration Committee. Japan and the Russian Federation supported the admission of the Press in principle but interventions by Denmark, France and the Chairman of the Finance and Administration Committee indicated that further consideration of some aspects was needed. Germany supported the proposal that the matter should be referred back to the Finance and Administration Committee, and for the Secretary to provide information on costings, seating arrangements, etc. for discussion next year.