International Agreement for the creation of an Office International des Epizooties

Done in Paris, 25 January 1924

The Governments of the Argentine Republic, of Belgium, of Brazil, of Bulgaria, of Denmark, of Egypt, of Spain, of Finland, of France, of Great Britain, of Greece, of Guatemala, of Hungary, of Italy, of Luxemburg, of Morocco, of Mexico, of the Principality of Monaco, of the Netherlands, of Peru, of Poland, of Portugal, of Rumania, of Siam, of Sweden, of Switzerland, of the Czechoslovak Republic, and of Tunisia,

Considering that it would be useful to establish an Office International des Epizooties, as proposed in the Resolution adopted by the International Conference for the Study of Epizootics on 27 May 1921, have resolved to conclude an Agreement for this purpose and have agreed as follows:

Article 1

The High Contracting Parties pledge themselves to create and maintain an Office International des Epizooties, having its Headquarters in Paris.

Article 2

The Office is subject to the authority and control of a Committee composed of Delegates of the contracting Governments. The composition and functions of that Committee, together with the organisation and powers of the Office, are defined in the Organic Statutes which are attached as an appendix to the present Agreement and are considered as being an integral part thereof.

Article 3

The expenses involved in the establishment of the Office and its annual operation shall be paid by the contributions of the Contracting States, calculated in accordance with the terms of the Organic Statutes, referred to in Article 2.

Article 4

The contribution of each contracting State shall be paid, at the beginning of each year, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, to the “Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations” in Paris. Such funds shall be made available, as and when necessary, to the Director of the Office, when requested by him.

Article 5

The High Contracting Parties reserve the right to make, by common consent, any changes in the present Agreement which, in the light of experience, are deemed desirable.

Article 6

Governments which have not signed the present Agreement may accession to it, at their request. The French Government shall be notified of this accession through diplomatic channels. The French Government shall then inform the other contracting Governments. Accession shall entail the obligation to contribute towards the expenses of the Office, as laid down in Article 3.

Article 7

The present Agreement shall be ratified under the following conditions:

Each power shall send its ratification to the French Government as soon as possible. The latter shall then notify the other signatory countries thereof.

The ratifications shall be deposited in the archives of the French Government.

This Agreement shall come into force in respect of each signatory country from the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification.

Article 8

The present Agreement shall be effective for a period of seven years. Thereafter, the Agreement shall remain in force for further periods of seven years for such States as have not notified, one year prior to the expiry of each period, their intention to no longer be bound by the Agreement.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, duly empowered, have drawn up the present Agreement, in a single copy, upon which they have affixed their seals; this original shall remain on deposit in the archives of the French Government and duly certified copies shall be transmitted, through diplomatic channels, to the Contracting Parties.

The Original Agreement shall remain open for signature until 30 April 1924, inclusive.

Paris, 25 January, 1924.

For the Argentine Republic	Signed: Luis Bemberg
For Belgium	Signed: E. de Gaiffier
For Brazil	Signed: L.M. de Souza-Dantas
For Bulgaria	Signed: B. Morfoff
For Denmark	Signed: H.A. Bernhoft
For Egypt	Signed: M. Fakhry
For Spain	Signed: J. Quinones de Leon
For Finland	Signed: C. Enckell
For France	Signed: R. Poincaré et Henry Chéron
For Great Britain	Signed: Crewe
For Greece	Signed: A. Romanos
For Guatemala	Signed: Adrian Recinos
For Hungary	Signed: Hevesy
For Italy	Signed: Romano Avezzana
For Luxemburg	Signed: E. Leclere
For Morocco	Signed: Beaumarchais
For Mexico	Signed: Raf. Cabrera
For the Principality of Monaco	Signed: Balny d’Avricourt
For the Netherlands	Signed: L. Loudon (for the Kingdom in Europe)
For Peru	Signed: M.H. Cornejo
For Poland	Signed: Alfred Chlapowsky
For Portugal	Signed: Antonio da Fonseca
For Rumania	Signed: Victor Antonesco
For Siam	Signed: Charoon
For Sweden	Signed: Albert Ehrensvard
For Switzerland	Signed: Dunant
For the Czechoslovak Republic	Signed: Stephan Osuski
For Tunisia	Signed: Beaumarchais