| | ANTARCTIC TREATY SECRETARIAT |
Welcome to our new website! We hope that, whether you are professionally involved with the Antarctic Treaty System or just looking for information, you will find this site informative and useful. Development of the website is continuing. Our next step will be to make the whole site function in the four official languages of the Antarctic Treaty System: English, French, Russian and Spanish. We are also preparing to put our database of the Recommendations of the ATCM on line in theDocuments page, and we plan to add a procedure to the News page so that you can subscribe to our newletter. As the site is a work in progress, your impressions and feedback are important to us. Please direct any comments or suggestions towebmaster@ats.aq. Johannes Huber, Executive Secretary |
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| The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat was established in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September 2004 by theAntarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM).
The ATCM meets every year to consider measures according to theAntarctic Treaty (see box). The Treaty deals with the area around the South Pole, or more precisely, the area South of the Parallel 60. It is supplemented by the Environment Protocol (see box).
As service unit of the ATCM, the Secretariat is responsible for the documents and reports of the annual meetings. It also maintains the records of the ATCM, some of which you will find available online on this site, together with basic information on the Treaty and the 28Consultative Parties. | The main purpose of theAntarctic Treaty , which was signed in Washington on December 1, 1959, is to ensure“ in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord .”
To this end, “ any measure of a military nature, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvres, as well as the testing of any type of weapon ” is prohibited. The Treaty emphasizes international cooperation in scientific research on Antarctica.
In order to prevent conflicts about the sovereignty over Antarctica, Article IV of the Treaty provides: “ No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force .” |
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| | In the Protocol on Environmental Protection , which was signed in 1991, Antarctica is declared a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science. The Protocol has six Annexes, dealing with matters such as environmental impact assessments, protection of flora and fauna, protected areas and liability for environmental emergencies. |
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| The most recent ATCM took place in Stockholm, Sweden, 6 to 17 June, 2005 (ATCM XXVIII) .
The next meeting will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 12 to 23 June 2006.Visit the official website for the meeting atwww.atcm2006.gov.uk. |
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