2 Amendments adopted by the General Assembly since the creation of the UNWTO

To date, none of the amendments adopted by the General Assembly since the creation of the UNWTO has been ratified, and therefore none has entered into force. The amendments are presented following the order of the articles to which they apply, independently of their chronological order. Those that are applied, by decision of the General Assembly, on a provisional basis pending their entry into force are reproduced below in italics:

Statutes

Establishment

Article 1

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, November-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«The World Tourism Organization, hereinafter referred to as «the Organization», is hereby established as an international organization of intergovernmental character. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations.»

Membership

Article 4

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, November-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«Membership of the Organization shall be open to:

(a) Full Members

(b) Associate Members»

Article 5

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, November-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«1. Full membership of the Organization shall be open to all sovereign States that are members of the United Nations.

2. Such States may become Full Members of the Organization if their candidatures are approved by the General Assembly by a majority of twothirds of the Full Members present and voting provided that said majority is a majority of the Full Members of the Organization.

3. States that have withdrawn from the Organization in accordance with the provisions of Article 35 shall have the right to become Full Members of the Organization again, without requirement of vote, on formally declaring that they adopt the Statutes of the Organization and accept the obligations of membership.»

Article 6

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, November-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«1. Territories already holding associate membership on 24 October 2003 shall maintain the status, rights and obligations belonging to them as at such date. The list of such territories is annexed to these Statutes.

2. Members enjoying the status of Affiliates, up to at the date of entry into force of the Amendments to the present Statutes adopted on 29 November 2005 shall become as of right Associate Members at that date.

3. Associate membership of the Organization shall be open to intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, tourism bodies without political competence subordinate to territorial entities, professional and labour organizations, academic, educational, vocation training and research institutions and to commercial enterprises and associations whose activities are related to the aims of the Organization or fall within its competence. The participation of Associate Members in the work of the Organization shall be of a technical nature, with decisions and votes being the exclusive prerogative of the Full Member.

4. Such entities may become Associate Members of the Organization provided that their requests for membership are presented in writing to the SecretaryGeneral and that the candidature is approved by the General Assembly by a majority of twothirds of the Full Members present and voting provided that said majority is a majority of the Full Members of the Organization. Except in the cases of international organizations, the candidatures of the entities mentioned in paragraph 3 above shall be introduced by the United Nations member State on whose territory their headquarters is located.

5. The General Assembly shall abstain from considering the candidature of such entities if their headquarters is located in a territory that is the subject of a dispute, of sovereignty or other, before the United Nations, or if their activity is related to such a territory, unless no Full Member objects to the introduction of the candidature of said entity or to its admission to the Organization.»

Article 7

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, November-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«1. A Committee of Associate Members shall be constituted which shall establish its own rules and submit them to the Assembly for approval by a majority of twothirds of the Full Members present and voting provided that said majority is a majority of the Full Members of the Organization. The Committee may be represented at meetings of the Organization’s organs.

2. The Committee of Associate Members shall be composed of three boards:

(i) a board of destinations, composed of the tourism bodies, without political competence subordinate to territorial entities

(ii) an education board composed of academic, educational, vocational training and research institutions and

(iii) a professional board composed of all the other Associate Members.

Intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations may participate in whichever board or boards correspond to their competences.»

General Assembly

Article 9

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, November-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«1. The Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization and shall be composed of delegates representing Full Members.

2. At each session of the Assembly each Full Member shall be represented by not more than five delegates, one of whom shall be designated by the Member as Chief Delegate.

3. Associate Members as of 24 October 2003, the list of which is annexed to the present Statutes, shall be represented by not more than five delegates, one of whom shall be designated as Chief Delegate. These delegates may participate, without the right to vote, in the work of the Assembly. They shall have the right to speak but may not participate in decisionmaking.

4. The Committee of Associate Members may designate three spokespersons, one representing the board of destinations, one representing the professional board and the other representing the education board, who shall participate in the work of the assembly, without the right to vote. Each Associate Member may designate one observer, who may attend the deliberations of the Assembly.»

Executive Council

Article 14

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its fifth session, New Delhi, October 1983 [resolution 134(V)] modified at the twelfth session, Istanbul, October 1997 [resolution 365(XII):

«1 bis. The host State of the Headquarters of the Organization shall have a permanent additional seat on the Executive Council, together with the right to vote, which shall be unaffected by the procedure laid down in paragraph 1 above concerning the geographical distribution of Council seats.»

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, November-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«1. The Council shall consist of Full Members elected by the Assembly in the ratio of one Member for every five Full Members, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure laid down by the Assembly, with a view to achieving a fair and equitable geographical distribution.

2. Associate Members as of 24 October 2003 may have a spokesperson who may participate, without the right to vote, in the work of the Council. Such spokesperson may not participate in decisionmaking.

3. The three spokespersons of the Committee of Associate Members may participate, without the right to vote, in the work of the Council. Such spokespersons may not participate in decisionmaking.»

Article 15

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its seventh session, Madrid, September-October 1987 [resolution 208(VII)], which has not yet entered into force:

«1. The term of elected Members shall be four years. Election for one-half of the membership of the Council shall be held every two years.

2. The terms of office of the Members of the Council shall not be immediately renewable upon expiration unless an immediate renewed membership is essential to safeguard a fair and equitable geographical distribution. In such a case, the admissibility of the request for renewal shall be obtained from a majority of Full Members present and voting.»

Secretariat

Article 22

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, NovemberDecember 2005 [resolution 512(XVI)]:

«The SecretaryGeneral shall be appointed by a twothirds majority of Full Members present and voting in the Assembly, on the recommendation of the Council, for a term of four years. His appointment shall be renewable only once.»

Depositary

Article 37

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its fourth session, Rome, September 1981 [resolution 93(IV)]:

«1. These Statutes and any declarations accepting the obligations of membership shall be deposited with the Government of Spain.»

«2. The Government of Spain shall inform all States so entitled of the receipt of the declarations referred to in paragraph 1 and of the notification in accordance with the provisions of Articles 33 and 35, and of the date of entry into force of amendments to these Statutes.»

Interpretation and languages

Article 38

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its third session, Torremolinos, September 1979 [resolution 61(III)]:

«The official languages of the Organization shall be English, Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish.»

Annex

(added to the Statutes, in accordance with resolution 511(XVI))

List of the Associate Members on 24 October 2003:

Aruba

Flemish Community of Belgium

Hong Kong, China

Macao, China

Madeira

Netherland Antilles

Puerto Rico

Financing rules attached to the statutes

Paragraph 4

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its eighth session, Paris, August 1989 [resolution 266(VIII)]:

«The budget shall be formulated in United States dollars. The currency used for payment of contributions shall be the United States dollar or any other currency or combination of currencies stipulated by the Assembly. This shall not preclude acceptance by the Secretary-General, the extent authorized by the Assembly, of other currencies in payment of Members' contributions.»

Paragraph 12

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its third session, Torremolinos, September 1979 [resolution 61(III)]:

«The Members of the Organization shall pay their contribution in the first month of the financial year for which it is due. Members shall be notified of the amount of their contribution, as determined by the Assembly, six months before the beginning of financial years in which the General Assembly is held and two months before the beginning of the other financial years. However, the Council may approve justified cases of arrears due to different financial years existing in different countries.»

Paragraph 13

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its fourth session, Rome, September 1981 [resolution 92(IV)]:

«(a) A Member which is one or more years in arrears in the payment of its contributions to the Organization's expenditure may not be elected to the Executive Council or hold offices within the organs of the General Assembly.

(b)A Member which is one or more years in arrears in the payment of its contributions to the Organization's expenditure and which has failed to explain the nature of the circumstances surrounding its failure to pay and to indicate the measures to be taken to settle its arrears shall pay a compensatory amount equal to two per cent of its arrears, in addition to said arrears.»

(c)A Member which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization's expenditure shall be deprived of the privileges enjoyed by the Members in the form of services and the right to vote in the Assembly and the Council if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two financial years. At the request of the Council, the Assembly may, however, permit such a Member to vote and to enjoy the services of the Organization if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member.»

Last paragraph

Text of the amendment adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth session, Dakar, October-December 2005 [resolution 511(XVI)]:

«In calculating the assessments of Associate Members, account shall be taken of the different bases of their membership and the limited rights they enjoy within the Organization.»