Organic Statutes

Organic Statutes of the Office International des Epizooties

Appendix to the International Agreement

Article 1

An Office International des Epizooties is hereby established in Paris, under the auspices of the States which agree to participate in its operations.

Article 2

The Office may not intervene in any way in the administration of the various States.

It shall be independent of the authorities of the country in which it has been established.

It shall correspond directly with the higher authorities or departments responsible for the animal sanitary policy of the various countries.

Article 3

At the request of the International Committee referred to in Article 6, the Government of the French Republic will make all the necessary arrangements for the Office to be recognised as an institution of public utility (“utilité publique”).

Article 4

The main objects of the Office are:

a. To promote and co-ordinate all experimental and other research work concerning the pathology or prophylaxis of contagious diseases of livestock for which international collaboration is deemed desirable.

b. To collect and bring to the attention of the Governments or their sanitary services, all facts and documents of general interest concerning the spread of epizootic diseases and the means used to control them.

c. To examine international draft agreements regarding animal sanitary measures and to provide signatory Governments with the means of supervising their enforcement.

Article 5

The Governments shall forward to the Office:

1. By telegram, notification¹ of the first cases of rinderpest or foot and mouth disease observed in a country or an area hitherto free from the infection.

2. At regular intervals, bulletins prepared according to a model adopted by the Committee, giving information on the presence and distribution of the following diseases:

Rinderpest	Rabies
Foot and mouth disease	Glanders
Contagious pleuropneumonia	Dourine
Anthrax	Swine fever
Sheep pox

The list of diseases² to which either of the foregoing provisions applies may be revised by the Committee, subject to the approval of the Governments.

The Governments shall inform the Office of the measures adopted by them to control epizootics, especially such measures enforced at their own frontiers to protect their territory against imports from infected countries. As far as possible they shall furnish information in reply to inquiries sent to them by the Office.

Article 6

The Office shall be under the authority and control of an International Committee, composed of technical representatives appointed by the participating States, on the basis of one representative for each State.

Article 7

The Committee of the Office shall meet periodically at least once a year; there is no time limit for the duration of the sessions.

The members of the Committee shall elect, by secret ballot, a President who shall hold office for three years.

Article 8

To carry out the work of the Office, the following staff shall be appointed:

– a Director,

– technical staff,

– employees required for the day-to-day running of the Office.

The Director shall be appointed by the Committee.

The Director shall attend Committee Meetings in an advisory capacity.

The Director shall be responsible for the appointment and dismissal of employees of all categories and shall report all such actions to the Committ

Article 9

All information collected by the Office shall be brought to the attention of the participating States by means of a bulletin or by special notifications which shall be sent to them either automatically or upon request.

Notifications concerning the first outbreaks of rinderpest or foot and mouth disease shall be forwarded immediately by telegram to the various Governments and Sanitary Services.

In addition, official reports shall be sent periodically to the participating States, giving detailed accounts of the activities of the Office.

Article 10

The bulletin, which shall be issued at least once a month, shall contain, in particular:

1. Laws and general or local regulations promulgated in various countries concerning contagious diseases of livestock.

2. Information concerning the spread of contagious diseases of animals.

3. Statistics concerning animal health status worldwide.

4. Bibliographical references.

French shall be the official language of the Office and of the bulletin. The Committee may, however, decide whether parts of the bulletin shall be published in other languages.

Article 11

The funds required for the functioning of the Office shall be paid by the States signatory to the Agreement and by those which have acceded later. The contribution³ is calculated according to the following categories:

	1st	category	at the rate of	25	units
	2nd	–	–	20	–
>	3rd	–	–	15	–
	4th	–	–	10	–
	5th	–	–	5	–
	6th	–	–	3	–
on the basis of five hundred francs per unit

Each State shall be free to choose the category in which it is registered. A State may subsequently elect to be placed in a higher category.

Article 12

Funds shall be allocated from the annual income for the establishment of a reserve fund. The total amount of this fund, which may not exceed the amount of the annual Budget, shall be invested in gilt-edged government stocks.

Article 13

Members of the Committee shall receive an allowance for travelling expenses out of funds allocated for the operations of the Office. They shall also receive subsistence allowances for each of the session which they attend.

Article 14

The Committee shall determine the amount to be withheld annually from the budget to contribute towards retirement pensions for the staff of the Office.

Article 15

The Committee shall prepare the annual budget and approve the accounts. It shall also establish staff regulations and make any other provisions necessary for the functioning of the Office. Participating States shall be informed of all such regulations and provisions, which may not be modified without their consent.

Article 16

An account of the administration of the Office Funds shall be presented annually to the participating States at the end of the financial year.

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

¹ The notification must be made in accordance with the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Chapter 1.1.2).

² The animal diseases which must be notified are in the OIE List of notifiable diseases contained in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Section 2.1).

³ The annual total contribution is defined by Article 14 of the Organic Rules