§ 3 If a vacancy occurs or the right to vote of a member is suspended or in the case of absence of a member for two consecutive sessions of the Committee, without the member arranging to be represented by another member in accordance with § 6, the deputy member designated by the General Assembly shall exercise its functions for the remainder of the period.

§ 4 With the exception of the case referred to in § 3, no Member State may sit on the Committee for more than two full consecutive periods.

§ 5 The Committee shall:

a) establish its rules of procedure;

b) conclude the Headquarters Agreement;

c) establish the staff regulation for the Organisation;

d) appoint, taking account of the ability of the candidates and an equitable geographical distribution, the senior officers of the Organisation;

e) establish a regulation concerning the finances and book-keeping of the Organisation;

f) approve the work programme, budget, management report and accounts of the Organisation;

g) fix, on the basis of the approved accounts, the definitive contributions due from the Member States in accordance with Article 26 for the two previous calendar years, as well as the amount of the treasury advance due from the Member States in accordance with Article 26 § 5 for the current year and the next calendar year;

h) determine the attributions of the Organisation which concern all the Member States or only some of the Member States as well as the expenses to be borne, in consequence, by these Member States (Article 26 § 4);

i) fix the amount of specific remuneration (Article 26 § 11);

j) issue special directives concerning the auditing of accounts (Article 27 § 1);

k) approve the taking on of administrative functions by the Organisation (Article 4 § 3) and fix the specific contributions due from the Member State concerned;

l) send to the Member States the management report, the statement of accounts as well as its decisions and recommendations;

m) prepare and send to the Member States, with a view to the General Assembly which is to decide the composition of the Committee, at least two months before the opening of the session, a report on its activity as well as proposals as to how it should be reconstituted [Article 14 § 2, letter b)];

n) keep a check on the conduct of business by the Secretary General;

o) keep a watch on the proper application of the Convention by the Secretary General and the execution, by the Secretary General, of decisions taken by the other organs; to this end, the Committee may take all measures likely to improve the application of the Convention and of the above mentioned decisions;

p) give reasoned opinions on questions which may affect the work of the Organisation and are submitted to the Committee by a Member State or by the Secretary General;

q) resolve disputes between a Member State and the Secretary General with respect to his function as Depositary (Article 36 § 2);

r) take decisions about applications for suspension of membership (Article 40).

§ 6 There shall be a quorum in the Administrative Committee when two-thirds of its members are represented there. However, a member may arrange to be represented by another member; no member may however represent more than one other member.

§ 7 The Committee shall take its decisions by the majority of the members represented at the time of vote.

§ 8 Unless it decides otherwise, the Committee shall meet at the headquarters of the Organisation. The minutes of its meetings shall be sent to all Member States.

§ 9 The Chairman of the Committee shall:

a) convene the Committee at least once a year as well as at the request of four of its members or of the Secretary General;

b) send to the members of the Committee the draft agenda;

c) deal, within the limits and under the conditions laid down in the rules of procedure, with urgent questions arising in the interval between meetings;

d) sign the Headquarters Agreement referred to in § 5, letter b).

§ 10 The Committee may, within the limits of its own responsibilities, instruct the Chairman to carry out certain specific tasks.

Article 16

Other Committees

§ 1 The Committees referred to in Article 13 § 1, letters c) to f) and § 2 shall be composed, in principle, of all Member States. When the Revision Committee, the RID Expert Committee or the Committee of Technical Experts deliberate and take decisions, within the limits of their competence, about modifications of the Appendices to the Convention, Member States which have made a declaration in respect of the Appendices in question pursuant to Article 42 § 1, first sentence, shall not be members of the Committee concerned.

§ 2 The Secretary General shall convene the Committees either on his own initiative or at the request of five Member States or of the Administrative Committee. The Secretary General shall send the draft agenda to the Member States at least two months before the opening of the meeting.

§ 3 A Member State may arrange to be represented by another Member State; no State may however represent more than two other States.

§ 4 Each Member State represented shall have one vote. A proposal shall be adopted if the number of votes in favour is:

a) equal to at least one-third of the number of Member States represented at the time of the vote, and

b) greater than the number of votes against.

§ 5 On the invitation of the Secretary General, issued with the agreement of a majority of the Member States,

a) States which are not members of the Organisation,

b) Member States which, however, are not members of the Committee concerned,

c) international organisations and associations having competence for questions concerning the Organisation’s activities or dealing with problems which have been placed on the agenda, may attend meetings of the Committees in an advisory capacity.

§ 6 The Committees shall elect for each meeting or for an agreed period a Chairman and one or several Deputy Chairmen.

§ 7 The proceedings shall be conducted in the working languages. The substance of what is said during a meeting in one of the working languages shall be translated into the other working languages; proposals and decisions shall be translated in full.

§ 8 The minutes shall summarise the proceedings. Proposals and decisions shall be reproduced in full. With regard to decisions, the French text shall prevail. The minutes shall be sent to all Member States.

§ 9 The Committees may appoint working groups to deal with specific questions.

§ 10 The Committees shall establish their rules of procedure.

Article 17

Revision Committee

§ 1 The Revision Committee shall:

a) take decisions, in accordance with Article 33 § 4, about proposals aiming to modify the Convention;

b) consider proposals to be submitted, in accordance with Article 33 § 2, to the General Assembly for decision.

§ 2 There shall be a quorum (Article 13 § 3) in the Revision Committee when the majority of the Member States are represented there.

Article 18

RID Expert Committee

§ 1 The RID Expert Committee shall take decisions, in accordance with Article 33 § 5, about proposals aiming to modify the Convention.

§ 2 There shall be a quorum (Article 13 § 3) in the RID Expert Committee when one-third of the Member States are represented there.

Article 19

Rail Facilitation Committee

§ 1 The Rail Facilitation Committee shall:

a) give its opinion on all questions aiming to facilitate frontier crossing in international rail traffic;

b) recommend standards, methods, procedures and practices relating to rail facilitation.

§ 2 There shall be a quorum (Article 13 § 3) in the Rail Facilitation Committee when one-third of the Member States are represented there.

Article 20

Committee of Technical Experts

§ 1 The Committee of Technical Experts shall:

a) take decisions, in accordance with Article S of the APTU Uniform Rules, about the validation of a technical standard relating to railway material intended to be used in international traffic;

b) take decisions, in accordance with Article 6 of the APTU Uniform Rules, about the adoption of a uniform technical prescription relating to the construction, operation, maintenance or relating to a procedure concerning railway material intended to be used in international traffic;

c) keep a watch on the application of technical standards and uniform technical prescriptions relating to railway material intended to be used in international traffic and examine their development with a view to their validation or adoption in accordance with the procedures provided for in Articles 5 and 6 of the APTU Uniform Rules;

d) take decisions, in accordance with Article 33 § 6, about proposals aiming to modify the Convention;

e) deal with all other matters which are assigned to it in accordance with the APTU Uniform Rules and the ATMF Uniform Rules.

§ 2 There shall be a quorum (Article 13 § 3) in the Committee of Technical Experts, when one-half of the Member States, within the meaning of Article 16 § 1, are represented there. When the Committee is taking decisions about provisions of the Annexes to the APTU Uniform Rules, Member States which have made an objection, in accordance with Article 35 § 4, with regard to the provisions concerned or have made a declaration, in accordance with Article 9 § 1 of the APTU Uniform Rules, shall not have the right to vote.

§ 3 The Committee of Technical Experts may either validate technical standards or adopt uniform technical prescriptions or refuse to validate or adopt them; it may not under any circumstances modify them.

Article 21

Secretary General

§ 1 The Secretary General shall assume the functions of Secretariat of the Organisation.

§ 2 The Secretary General shall be elected by the General Assembly for a period of three years, renewable twice at most.

§ 3 The Secretary General must, in particular:

a) assume the functions of Depositary (Article 36);

b) represent the Organisation externally;

c) send to Member States the decisions taken by the General Assembly and by the Committees (Article 34 § 1, Article 35 § 1);

d) carry out the duties entrusted to him by the other organs of the Organisation;

e) examine proposals of the Member States aiming to modify the Convention, if necessary with the assistance of experts;

f) convene the General Assembly and the other Committees (Article 14 § 3, Article 16 § 2);

g) send to Member States, in due time, the documents necessary for the meetings of the various organs;

h) draw up the work programme, draft budget and management report of the Organisation and submit them to the Administrative Committee for approval (Article 25);

i) manage the financial affairs of the Organisation within the limits of the approved budget;

j) endeavour, at the request of one of the parties concerned, by using his good offices, to settle disputes between them arising from the interpretation or application of the Convention;

k) give, at the request of all parties concerned, an opinion on disputes arising from the interpretation or application of the Convention;

l) assume the functions which are attributed to him by Title V;

m) receive communications from the Member States, international organisations and associations referred to in Article 16 § 5, and from the undertakings (carriers, infrastructure managers, etc.) participating in international rail traffic, and notify them, where appropriate, to the other Member States, international organisations and associations as well as undertakings;

n) exercise the management of the staff of the Organisation;

o) inform the Member States, in due time, of any vacancy in the posts of the Organisation;

p) maintain and publish the lists of lines and services referred to in Article 24.

§ 4 The Secretary General may, on his own initiative, present proposals aiming to modify the Convention.

Article 22

Staff of the Organisation

The rights and duties of the staff of the Organisation shall be laid down by the staff regulation established by the Administrative Committee in accordance with Article 15 § 5, letter c).

Article 23

Bulletin

§ 1 The Organisation shall publish a bulletin which shall contain official communications as well as others necessary or useful with respect to the application of the Convention.

§ 2 The communications for which the Secretary General is responsible under the Convention may, if necessary, be made in the form of a publication in the Bulletin.

Article 24

Lists of lines or services

§ 1 The maritime and inland waterway services referred to in Article 1 of the CIV Uniform Rules and of the CIM Uniform Rules, on which carriage is performed in addition to carriage by rail subject to a single contract of carriage, shall be included in two lists:

a) the CIV list of maritime and inland waterway services,

b) the CIM list of maritime and inland waterway services.

§ 2 The railway lines of a Member State which has lodged a reservation in accordance with Article 1 § 6 of the CIV Uniform Rules or in accordance with Article 1 § 6 of the CIM Uniform Rules shall be included in two lists in accordance with that reservation:

a) the CIV list of railway lines,

b) the CIM list of railway lines.

§ 3 Member States shall send to the Secretary General their notifications concerning the inclusion or deletion of lines or services referred to in §§ 1 and 2. In so far as they link Member States, the maritime and inland waterway services referred to in § 1 shall only be included in the lists with the agreement of those States; for the deletion of such a service, notification by one of those States shall suffice.

§ 4 The Secretary General shall notify all Member States of the inclusion or deletion of a line or a service.

§ 5 Carriage on the maritime and inland waterway services referred to in § 1 and carriage on the railway lines referred to in § 2 shall be subject to the provisions of the Convention on the expiration of one month running from the date of the notification of their inclusion by the Secretary General. Such a service or line shall cease to be subject to the provisions of the Convention on the expiration of three months running from the date of the notification of the deletion by the Secretary General, save in respect of carriage underway which must be finished.

Title IV

FINANCES