Observers to the IOTC meetings

PRE-APPROVED OBSERVERS WHO MAY ATTEND IOTC SESSIONS AND THOSE OF ITS SUBSIDIARY BODIES

Article VII of the IOTC Agreement (OBSERVERS) provides a mechanism for the participation of non-members at IOTC meetings.

At the 2012 Commission meeting (16^th Session), Contracting Parties (Members) agreed that meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies should be open to participation by observers from all those who have attended the current and/or previous sessions of the Commission. Applications by new Observers should continue to follow the procedure as outlined in Rule XIV of the IOTC Rules of Procedure (note: new Rules were adopted at S18).

Rule XIV of the IOTC Rules of Procedure (2023) provides a mechanism by which observers may be admitted to IOTC meetings.

Meetings of all of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission are open to observers under the same rules as the Commission. Attendance by Observers to particular meetings of the Commission or its subsidiary bodies are recorded in the relevant meeting report for transparency purposes.

The list of current, pre-approved observers who may attend IOTC meetings are as follows:

• Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
• Russian Federation (RF)
• United Arab Emirates (UAE)
• United States of America (USA)

Intergovernmental organizations:

• African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP)
• African Union – InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)
• Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)
• Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
• Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES)
• Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)
• Indian Ocean – South East Asian Marine Turtle MOU (IOSEA)
• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
• Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)
• Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC)
• Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA)
• Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC)
• Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)

Non-governmental organizations

• Abalobi
• Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS)
• Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Association (BMFA)
• Birdlife International (BI)
• Bloom
• Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE)
• Blue Resources Trust (BRT)
• Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements (CFFA)
• Conservation International (CI)
• Earth Island Institute
• East Africa Platform of Non State Actors in Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector (EARFISH)
• Earthworm Foundation
• Europêche
• Federation of artisanal Fishermen of the Indian Ocean (FPAOI)
• Fisheries Forum Agency (FFA)
• German Foundation for Marine Conservation
• German Ocean Foundation
• Global Tuna Alliance (GTA)
• Greenpeace International (GI)
• Indian Ocean MOU on Port State Control (IOMOU)
• Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (ISDIR)
• International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
• International Game Fish Association (IGFA)
• International Pole-and-line Foundation (IPNLF)
• International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)
• International Whaling Commission (IWC)
• Island Conservation Society (ICS)
• Key Traceability
• Maldives Seafood Processors and Exporters Association (MSPEA)
• Manta Trust Association
• Marine Affairs Program @ Dalhousie University
• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
• Marinas Guardian
• National Institute of Maritime Affairs (NIMA)
• New England Seafood
• Oceana
• Organisation for the Promotion of  Responsible Tuna Fisheries (OPRT)
• Ocean Outcomes
• OceanMind
• Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA)
• The Ocean Foundation
• The Pew Charitable Trusts (PEW)
• The Shark Trust
• Rain Forest Rescue International, Sri Lanka (RFRI)
• Shark Advocates International (SAI)
• Shark Alliance (SA)
• Shark Guardian
• SHARKPROJECT International
• South West Indian Ocean Tuna Forum (SWIOTUNA)
• Stop Illegal Fishing (SIF)
• Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP)
• Sustainable Fisheries and Communities Trust
• Sustainable Indian Ocean Tuna Initiative (SIOTI)
• US–Japan Research Institute 
• West Coast Purse Seine Net Welfare Association
• World Wide Fund for Nature (a.k.a World Wildlife Fund, WWF)
• WildAid

Invited experts

• Taiwan,China

If you want to ‘Observe’ IOTC meetings but are not on the above list, then please follow one (1) of the four (4) processes detailed below:

1. Members or Associate Members of the FAO:

Any Member or Associate Member of FAO that is not a Member of the Commission may, upon its request, be invited to be represented by an observer at sessions of the Commission. It may submit memoranda and participate without vote in the discussions.

Process: Send an email to the IOTC Secretariat ([email protected]) with a letter addressed to the Chairperson of the Commission. In the letter, provide details on your organisations interest in attending IOTC meetings. Include background on how your organisations attendance will benefit IOTC processes. If the Commission agrees, a letter of invitation will be issued accordingly.

2. Members of the United Nations or UN Specialised agencies:

States which are not Members of the Commission, nor Members of the Organization, but that are Members of the United Nations, any of its Specialized Agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency, may, upon request and subject to the concurrence of the Commission through its chairperson and to the principles relating to the granting of observer status to Nations adopted by the Conference, be invited to attend Sessions of the Commission in an observer capacity.

Process: Send an email to the IOTC Secretariat ([email protected]) with a letter addressed to the Chairperson of the Commission. In the letter, provide details on your organisations interest in attending IOTC meetings. Include background on how your organisations attendance will benefit IOTC processes. If the Commission agrees, a letter of invitation will be issued accordingly.

3. Intergovernmental Organisations:

The Commission may, on their request, invite intergovernmental organizations having special competence in the field of activity of the Commission, to attend such of its meetings as the Commission may specify.

Process: Send an email to the IOTC Secretariat ([email protected]) with a letter addressed to the Chairperson of the Commission. In the letter, provide details on your organisations interest in attending IOTC meetings. Include background on how your organisations attendance will benefit IOTC processes. If the Commission agrees, a letter of invitation will be issued accordingly.

4. Non-Governmental Organisations:

The Commission may invite, upon request, non-governmental organizations having special competence in the field of activity of the Commission to attend such of its meetings as the Commission may specify. The list of the NGOs wishing to be invited will be submitted beforehand by the Executive Secretary to the Members of the Commission, no later than 60 days before the Session. If one of the Members of the Commission objects giving in writing its reasons within 30 days, the matter will then be subject to decision of the Commission out of Session by written procedure.

Process: Send an email to the IOTC Secretariat ([email protected]) with a letter addressed to the Chairperson of the Commission. In the letter, provide details on your organisations interest in attending IOTC meetings. Include background on how your organisations attendance will benefit IOTC processes. The letter should be submitted no later than 60 days prior to the commencement of the first meeting you wish to attend. If the Commission agrees, a letter of invitation will be issued accordingly following the 30 day review period.