The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile,
the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, The
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, and the United States of America,
Recognizing that it is in the interest of all mankind that
Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes
and shall not become the scene or object of international discord;
Acknowledging the substantial contributions to scientific
knowledge resulting from international cooperation in scientific investigation
in
Convinced that the establishment of a firm foundation for
the continuation and development of such cooperation on the basis of freedom of
scientific investigation in Antarctica as applied during the International
Geophysical Year accords with the interests of science and the progress of all
mankind;
Convinced also that a treaty ensuring the use of
Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and the continuance of international
harmony in Antarctica will further the purposes and principles embodied in the
Charter of the United Nations;
Have agreed as follows:
Article I
[
1.
2. The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of
military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other
peaceful purposes.
Article II
[freedom
of scientific investigation to continue]
Freedom of scientific investigation in
Article III
[plans
and results to be exchanged]
1. In order to promote international cooperation in
scientific investigation in
(a) information regarding plans
for scientific programs in
(b) scientific personnel shall be
exchanged in
(c) scientific observations and
results from
2. In implementing this Article, every encouragement shall
be given to the establishment of cooperative working relations with those
Specialized Agencies of the United Nations and other international
organizations having a scientific or technical interest in
Article IV
[territorial
claims]
1. Nothing contained in the present Treaty shall be interpreted
as:
(a) a renunciation by any
Contracting Party of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial
sovereignty in
(b) a renunciation or diminution by any Contracting Party
of any basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica which it may
have whether as a result of its activities or those of its nationals in
Antarctica, or otherwise;
(c) prejudicing the position of
any Contracting Party as regards its recognition or nonrecognition
of any other State's right of or claim or basis of claim to territorial
sovereignty in
2. 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
Article V
[nuclear
explosions prohibited]
1. Any nuclear explosions in
2. In the event of the conclusion of international
agreements concerning the use of nuclear energy, including nuclear explosions
and the disposal of radioactive waste material, to which all of the Contracting
Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings
provided for under Article IX are parties, the rules established under such
agreements shall apply in Antarctica.
Article VI
[area
covered by Treaty]
The provisions of the present Treaty shall apply to the
area south of 60o South latitude, including all ice shelves, but nothing in the
present Treaty shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise
of the rights, of any State under international law with regard to the high
seas within that area.
Article VII
[free
access for observation and inspection]
1. In order to promote the objectives and ensure the
observation of the provisions of the present Treaty, each Contracting Party
whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings referred to
in Article IX of the Treaty shall have the right to designate observers to
carry out any inspection provided for by the present Article. Observers shall
be nationals of the Contracting Parties which designate them. The names of the
observers shall be communicated to every other Contracting Party having the
right to designate observers, and like notice shall be given of the termination
of their appointment.
2. Each observer designated in accordance with the
provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall have complete freedom of access
at any time to any or all areas of
3. All areas of Antarctica, including all stations,
installations and equipment within those areas, and all ships and aircraft at
points of discharging or embarking cargoes or personnel in Antarctica, shall be
open at all times to inspection by any observers designated in accordance with
paragraph 1 of this Article.
4. Aerial observation may be carried out at any time over
any or all areas of
5. Each Contracting Party shall, at the time when the
present Treaty enters into force for it, inform the other Contracting Parties,
and thereafter shall give them notice in advance, of
(a) all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the part
of its ships of nationals, and all expeditions to Antarctica organized in or
proceeding from its territory;
(b) all stations in
(c) any military personnel or
equipment intended to be introduced by it into
Article VIII
[personnel
under jurisdiction of their own states]
1. In order to facilitate the exercise of their functions
under the present Treaty, and without prejudice to the respective positions of
the Contracting Parties relating to jurisdiction over all other persons in
Antarctica, observers designated under paragraph 1 of Article VII and scientific
personnel exchanged under subparagraph 1(b) of Article III of the Treaty, and
members of the staffs accompanying any such persons, shall be subject only to
the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party of which they are nationals in
respect to all acts or omissions occurring while they are in Antarctica for the
purpose of exercising their functions.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1 of
this Article, and pending the adoption of measures in pursuance of subparagraph
1(e) of Article IX, the Contracting Parties concerned in any case of dispute
with regard to the exercise of jurisdiction in
Article IX
[Treaty states to meet
periodically]
1. Representatives of the Contracting Parties named in the
preamble to the present Treaty shall meet at the City of Canberra within two
months after date of entry into force of the Treaty, and thereafter at suitable
intervals and places, for the purpose of exchanging information, consulting
together on matters of common interest pertaining to Antarctica, and
formulating and considering, and recommending to their Governments, measures in
furtherance of the principles and objectives of the Treaty including measures
regarding:
(a) use of
(b) facilitation of scientific
research in
(c) facilitation of international
scientific cooperation in
(d) facilitation of the exercise
of the rights of inspection provided for in Article VII of the Treaty;
(e) questions relating to the
exercise of jurisdiction in
(f) preservation and conservation
of living resources in
2. Each Contracting Party which has become a party to the
present Treaty by accession under Article XIII shall be entitled to appoint
representatives to participate in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of
the present Article, during such time as the Contracting Party demonstrates its
interest in Antarctica by conducting substantial scientific research activity
there, such as the establishment of a scientific station or the dispatch of a
scientific expedition.
3. Reports from the observers referred to in Article VII
of the present Treaty shall be transmitted to the representatives of the
Contracting Parties participating in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of
the present Article.
4. The measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article
shall become effective when approved by all the Contracting Parties whose
representatives were entitled to participate in the meetings held to consider
those measures.
5. Any or all of the rights established in the present
Treaty may be exercised as from the date of entry into force of the Treaty
whether or not any measures facilitating the exercise of such rights have been
proposed, considered or approved as provided in this Article.
Article X
[discourages
activities contrary to Treaty]
Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to exert
appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the
end that no one engages in any activity in
Article XI
[settlement
of disputes]
1. If any dispute arises between two or more of the
Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of the present
Treaty, those Contracting Parties shall consult among themselves with a view to
having the dispute resolved by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation,
arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful means of their own choice.
2. Any dispute of this character not so resolved shall,
with the consent, in each case, of all parties to the dispute, be referred to
the International Court of Justice for settlement; but failure to reach
agreement on reference to the International Court shall not absolve parties to
the dispute from the responsibility of continuing to seek to resolve it by any
of the various peaceful means referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article XII
[review
of Treaty possible after 30 years]
1. (a) The present Treaty may be modified or amended at
any time by unanimous agreement of the Contracting Parties whose
representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under
Article IX. Any such modification or amendment shall enter into force when the
depositary Government has received notice from all such Contracting Parties
that they have ratified it.
(b) Such modification or amendment shall thereafter enter
into force as to any other Contracting Party when notice of ratification by it
has been received by the depositary Government. Any such Contracting Party from
which no notice of ratification is received within a period of two years from
the date of entry into force of the modification or amendment in accordance
with the provisions of subparagraph 1(a) of this Article shall be deemed to
have withdrawn from the present Treaty on the date of the expiration of such
period.
2. (a) If after the expiration of thirty years from the
date of entry into force of the present Treaty, any of the Contracting Parties
whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for
under Article IX so requests by a communication addressed to the depositary
Government, a Conference of all the Contracting Parties shall be held as soon
as practicable to review the operation of the Treaty.
(b) Any modification or amendment to the present Treaty
which is approved at such a Conference by a majority of the Contracting Parties
there represented, including a majority of those whose representatives are
entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX, shall be
communicated by the depositary Government to all the Contracting Parties
immediately after the termination of the Conference and shall enter into force
in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article.
(c) If any such modification or amendment has not entered
into force in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph 1(a) of this
Article within a period of two years after the date of its communication to all
the Contracting Parties, any Contracting Party may at any time after the
expiration of that period give notice to the depositary Government of its
withdrawal from the present Treaty; and such withdrawal shall take effect two
years after the receipt of the notice by the depositary Government.
Article XIII
[ratification
and accession]
1. The present Treaty shall be subject to ratification by
the signatory States. It shall be open for accession by any State which is a
Member of the United Nations, or by any other State which may be invited to
accede to the Treaty with the consent of all the Contracting Parties whose
representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under
Article IX of the Treaty.
2. Ratification of or accession to the present Treaty
shall be effected by each State in accordance with its
constitutional processes.
3. Instruments of ratification and instruments of
accession shall be deposited with the Government of the
4. The depositary Government shall inform all signatory
and acceding States of the date of each deposit of an instrument of
ratification or accession, and the date of entry into force of the Treaty and
of any modification or amendment thereto.
5. Upon the deposit of instruments of ratification by all
the signatory States, the present Treaty shall enter into force for those
States and for States which have deposited instruments of accession. Thereafter
the Treaty shall enter into force for any acceding State upon the deposit of
its instrument of accession.
6. The present Treaty shall be registered by the
depositary Government pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United
Nations.
Article XIV
[
The present Treaty, done in the English, French, Russian,
and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic, shall be deposited
in the archives of the Government of the United States of America, which shall
transmit duly certified copies thereof to the Governments of the signatory and
acceding States.
In witness whereof, the undersigned
Plenipotentiaries, duly authorized, have signed the present Treaty.
Done at
For
Adolfo Seilingo
F. Bello
For
Howard Beale
For
Obert de Thieusies
For
Marcial Mora M.
L. Gajardo V.
Julio Escudero
For the
Pierre Charpentier
For
Koichiro Asakai
T. Shimoda
For
G.D.L. White
For
Paul Koht
For the Union of
Wentzel C. du Plessis
For the
V. Kuznetsov
For the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland:
Harold Caccia
For the
Herman Phleger
Paul C. Daniels