Article IV

Agreement Secretariat

1. Subject to the approval of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, an Agreement secretariat shall be established within the Secretariat of the Convention. If the Secretariat of the Convention is unable, at any time, to provide this function, the Meeting of the Parties shall make alternative arrangements.

2. The functions of the Agreement secretariat shall be:

a) to arrange and service the sessions of the Meeting of the Parties;

b) to liaise with and facilitate co-operation between Parties and non-Party Range States, and international and national bodies whose activities are directly or indirectly relevant to the conservation of cetaceans in the Agreement area;

c) to assist the Parties in the implementation of this Agreement, ensuring coherence between the subregions and with measures adopted pursuant to other international instruments in force;

d) to execute decisions addressed to it by the Meeting of the Parties;

e) to invite the attention of the Meeting of the Parties to any matter pertaining to this Agreement;

f) to provide to each ordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties a report on the work of the Agreement secretariat, the Co-ordination units, the Bureau, and the Scientific Committee, and on the implementation of the Agreement based on information provided by the Parties and other sources;

g) to administer the budget for this Agreement;

h) to provide information to the general public concerning this Agreement and its objectives; and

i) to perform any other function entrusted to it under this Agreement or by the Meeting of the Parties.

3. The Agreement secretariat, in consultation with the Scientific Committee and the Co-ordination units, shall facilitate the preparation of guidelines covering inter alia:

a) the reduction or elimination, as far as possible and for the purposes of this Agreement, of adverse human-cetacean interactions;

b) habitat protection and natural resource management methods as they relate to cetaceans;

c) emergency measures; and

d) rescue methods.

Article V

Co-ordination Units

1. The functions of the subregional Co-ordination units shall be:

a) to facilitate implementation in the respective subregions of the activities provided for in Annex 2 to this Agreement, in accordance with instructions of the Meeting of the Parties;

b) to collect and evaluate information that will further the objectives and implementation of the Agreement and provide for appropriate dissemination of such information; and

c) to service meetings of the Scientific Committee and to prepare a report for communication to the Meeting of the Parties through the Agreement secretariat.

The designation of the Co-ordination units and their functions shall be reviewed, as appropriate, at each session of the Meeting of the Parties.

2. Each Co-ordination unit, in consultation with the Scientific Committee and the Agreement secretariat, shall facilitate the preparation of a series of international reviews or publications, to be updated regularly, including:

a) reports on the status and trends of populations, as well as gaps in scientific knowledge;

b) a subregional directory of important areas for cetaceans; and

c) a subregional directory of national authorities, research and rescue centres, scientists and non-governmental organizations concerned with cetaceans.