An International Wheat Council is hereby established to administer this Agreement.
Each exporting country and each importing country shall be a voting member of the Council and may be represented at its meetings by one delegate, one alternate, and advisers.
Any country which the Council recognizes as an irregular exporter or an irregular importer of wheat may become a non-voting member of the Council, provided that it accepts the obligations prescribed in Article VIII and agrees to pay such membership fees as shall be determined by the Council. Each country which is a non- voting member of the Council shall be entitled to have one representative at its meetings.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Trade Organization, the Interim Coordinating Committee for International Commodity Arrangements, and such other intergovernmental organizations as the Council may decide, shall each be entitled to have one non-voting representative at meetings of the Council.
The Council shall elect for each crop-year a Chairman and a Vice Chairman.
b. powers and function
The Council shall establish its rules of procedure.
The Council shall keep such records as are required by the terms of this Agreement and may keep such other records as it considers desirable.
The Council shall publish an annual report and may publish any other information concerning matters within the scope of this Agreement.
The Council, after consultation with the International Wheat Council established under the Memorandum of Agreement approved in June, 1942, and amended in June, 1946, may take over the records, assets and liabilities of that body.
The Council shall have such other powers and perform such other functions as it may deem necessary to carry out the terms of this Agreement.
The Council may, by two-thirds of the votes cast by the exporting countries and two-thirds of the votes cast by the importing countries, delegate the exercise of any of its powers or functions. The Council may at any time revoke such delegation by a majority of the votes cast. Any decision made under any powers or functions delegated by the Council in accordance with this paragraph shall be subject to review by the Council at the request of any exporting or importing country made within a period which the Council shall prescribe. Any decision, in respect of which no request for review has been made within the prescribed period, shall be binding on all exporting and importing countries.
c. voting
The importing countries shall hold 1,000 votes, which shall be distributed between them in the proportions which their respective guaranteed purchases for the current crop-year bear to the total of the guaranteed purchases for that crop-year. The exporting countries shall also hold 1,000 votes, which shall be distributed between
them in the proportions which, their respective guaranteed sales for the current crop-year bear to the total of the guaranteed sales for that crop-year. No exporting country or importing country shall have less than one vote and there shall be no fractional votes.
The Council shall redistribute the votes in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 12 of this Article whenever there is any change in the guaranteed purchases or guaranteed sales for the current crop-year.
If an exporting or an importing country forfeits its votes under paragraph 5 of Article XVII or is deprived of its votes under paragraph 3 of Article XIX, the Council shall redistribute the votes as if that country had no guaranteed quantity for the current crop-year.
Except where otherwise specified in this Agreement, decisions of the Council shall be by a majority of the total votes cast.
Any exporting country may authorize any other exporting country, and any importing country may authorize any other importing country, to represent its interests and to exercise its votes at any meeting or meetings of the Council. Evidence of such authorization satisfactory to the Council shall be submitted to the Council.
d. sessions
The Council shall meet at least once during each half of each crop-year and at such other times as the Chairman may decide.
The Chairman shall convene a Session of the Council if so requested by (a) any five delegates of the exporting and importing countries or (b) the delegate or delegates of any of the exporting and importing countries holding a total of not less than ten per cent, of the total votes or (c) the Executive Committee.
e. quorum
The presence of delegates with a majority of the votes held by the exporting countries and a majority of the votes held by the importing countries shall be necessary to constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Council.
f. seat
The Council shall select in July 1949 its temporary seat. The Council shall select, so soon as it deems the time propitious, its permanent seat after consultation with the appropriate organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations.
g. legal capacity
The Council shall have in the territory of each exporting and importing country such legal capacity as may be necessary for the exercise of its functions under this Agreement.
h. decisions
Each exporting and importing country undertakes to accept as binding all derisions of the Council under the provisions of this Agreement.
Article XIV
Executive Committee
The Council shall establish an Executive Committee. The members of the Executive Committee shall be three exporting countries elected annually by the exporting countries and not more than seven importing countries elected annually by the importing countries. The Council shall appoint the Chairman of the Executive Committee and may appoint a Vice-Chairman.
The Executive Committee shall be responsible to and work under the general direction of the Council. It shall have such powers and functions as are expressly assigned to it under this Agreement and such other powers and functions as the Council may delegate to it under paragraph 11 of Article XIII.
The exporting countries on the Executive Committee shall have the same total number of votes as the importing countries. The votes of the exporting countries shall be divided among them as they shall decide, provided that no exporting country shall have more than forty per cent, of the total votes of the exporting countries. The votes of the importing countries shall be divided among them as they shall decide, provided that no importing country shall have more than forty per cent, of the total votes of the importing countries.
The Council shall prescribe rules of procedure regarding voting in the Executive Committee, and may make such other provisions regarding rules of procedure in the Executive Committee as it thinks fit. A decision of the Executive Committee shall require the same majority of votes as this Agreement prescribes for the Council when making a decision on a similar matter.
Any exporting or importing country which is not a member of the Executive Committee may participate, without voting, in the discussion of any question before the Executive Committee whenever the latter considers that the interests of that country are affected.
Article XV
Advisory Committee on Price Equivalents
The Council shall establish an Advisory Committee on Price Equivalents consisting of representatives of three exporting countries and of three importing countries. The Committee shall advise the Council and the Executive Committee on the matters referred to in paragraphs 4, 5, and 6 of Article VI and on such other questions as the Council or the Executive Committee may refer to it. The Chairman of the Committee shall be appointed by the Council.
Article XVI
The Secretariat
The Council shall have a Secretariat consisting of a Secretary and such staff as may be required for the work of the Council and of its committees.
The Council shall appoint the Secretary and determine his duties.
The staff shall be appointed by the Secretary in accordance with regulations established by the Council.
Article XVII
Finance
The expenses of delegations to the Council, of representatives on the Executive Committee, and of representatives on the Advisory Committee on Price Equivalents shall be met by their respective Governments. The other expenses necessary fur the administration of this Agreement, including those of the Secretariat and any remuneration which the Council may decide to pay to its Chairman or its Vice-Chairman, shall be met by annual contributions from the exporting and importing countries. The contribution of each such country for each crop-year shall be proportionate to the number of votes held by it when the budget for that crop-year is settled.
At its first Session, the Council shall approve its budget for the period ending July 31, 1950 and assess the contribution to be paid by each exporting and importing country.
The Council shall, at its first Session during the second half of each crop-year, approve its budget for the following crop-year and assess the contribution to be paid by each exporting and importing country for that crop-year.
The initial contribution of any exporting or importing country acceding to this Agreement under Article XXI shall be assessed by the Council on the basis of the number of votes to be held by it and the period remaining in the current crop-year, but the assessments made upon other exporting and importing countries for the current crop-year shall not be altered.
Contributions shall be payable immediately upon assessment. Any exporting or importing country failing to pay its contribution within one year of its assessment shall forfeit its voting rights until its contribution is paid, but shall not be deprived of its other rights nor relieved of its obligations under this Agreement. In the event of any exporting or importing country forfeiting its voting rights under this paragraph its votes shall be redistributed as provided in paragraph 14 of Article XIII.
The Council shall, each crop-year, publish an audited statement of its receipts and expenditures in the previous crop-year.
The government of the country where the temporary or permanent seat of the Council is situated shall grant exemption from taxation on the salaries paid by the Council to its employees except that such exemption need not apply to the nationals of that country.
The Council shall, prior to its dissolution, provide for the settlement of its liabilities and the disposal of its records and assets upon the termination of this Agreement.
Article XVIII
Co-operation with Other Intergovernmental Organizations
The Council shall make whatever arrangements are required for consultation and co-operation with the appropriate organs of the United Nations and its specialized agencies and with other intergovernmental organizations.
If the Council finds that any terms of this Agreement are materially inconsistent with such requirements as may be laid down by the United Nations or through its appropriate organs and specialized agencies regarding intergovernmental commodity agreements, the inconsistency shall be deemed to be a circumstance affecting adversely the operation of this Agreement and the procedure prescribed in paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of Article XXII shall be applied.
Article XIX
Disputes and Complaints
Any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement which is not settled by negotiation and any complaint that any exporting or importing country has failed to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement, shall, at the request of any exporting or importing country party to the dispute or making the complaint, be referred to the Council which shall make a decision on the matter.
No exporting or importing country shall be found to have committed a breach of this Agreement except by a majority of the votes held by the exporting countries and a majority of the votes held by the importing countries. Any finding that an exporting or importing country is in breach of this Agreement shall specify the nature of the breach and, if the breach involves default by that country in its guaranteed quantities, the extent of such default.
If the Council finds that an exporting country or an importing country has committed a breach of this Agreement, it may, by a majority of the votes held by the exporting countries and a majority of the votes held by the importing countries, deprive the country concerned of its voting rights until it fulfills its obligations or expel that country from the Agreement.
If any exporting or importing country is deprived of its votes under this Article, the votes shall be redistributed as provided in paragraph 14 of Article XIII. If any exporting or importing country is found in default of the whole or part of its guaranteed quantities or is expelled from this Agreement, the remaining guaranteed quantities shall be adjusted as provided in Article IX.
Part Part 4 - International Wheat Agreement Act 1949 - ADMINISTRATION | Zoe