# United States Treaty Series/Volume 1/Pan American Union (1906)

This is the official United States government version published in the first volume of the United States Treaty Series (Bevans).
PAN AMERICAN UNION
* Resolution dated August 7, 1906, adopted by the Third International American Conference at Rio de Janeiro
* Amended by resolution of August 11, 1910, of the Fourth International American Conference, as amended
* Termination: Provisions contrary to the resolution of August 11, 1910, of the Fourth International American Conference repealed; became obsolete December 13, 1951, upon entry into force of the Charter of the Organization of American States of April 30, 1948
Report of the Delegates of the United States to the Third International Conference of American States, Held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 21 to August 26, 1906 (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1907), p. 99; Senate document 365, 59th Congress, 2d session
Reorganization of the Bureau of the American Republics
The undersigned, Delegates of the Republics represented in the Third International American Conference, duly authorized by their Governments, have approved the following Resolution:
The Third International American Conference resolves:
Art. 1. To continue the International Union of the American Republics, created by the First Conference, and confirmed by the Second.
The purposes of the International Bureau of the American Republics, which will represent said Union, are the following:
1. To compile and distribute commercial information and prepare commercial reports;
2. To compile and classify information respecting the Treaties and Conventions between the American Republics, and between the latter and non-American States;
​3. To supply information on educational matters;
4. To prepare reports on questions assigned to it by resolutions of the International American Conferences;
5. To assist in obtaining the ratification of the resolutions and conventions adopted by the Conferences;
6. To carry into effect all resolutions the execution of which may have been assigned or may hereafter be assigned to it by the International American Conferences;
7. To act as a Permanent Committee of the International American Conferences, recommending topics to be included in the programme of the next Conference; these plans must be communicated to the various Governments forming the Union, at least six months before the date of the meeting of the next Conference;
8. To submit, within the same period, a report to the various Governments on the work of the Bureau during the term covered since the meeting of the last Conference, and also special reports on any matter which may have been referred to it for report;
9. To keep the records of the International American Conferences.
Art. 2. The International Bureau of the American Republics shall be administered by a Governing Board, consisting of the Diplomatic Representatives of all the Governments of said Republics accredited to the Government of the United States of America, and of the Secretary of State of the United States, who will act as Chairman of said Governing Board.
Art. 3. Any diplomatic representative unable to attend the meetings of the Board, may transmit his vote, stating his reasons therefor in writing. Representation by proxy is prohibited.
Art. 4. The Governing Board shall meet in regular session the first Wednesday of every month, excepting in the months of June, July and August, and in special session at the call of the Chairman, issued on his own initiative or at the request of two members of the Board.
The attendance of five members at any ordinary or special session shall be sufficient to permit the Board to proceed with its business.
Art. 5. In the absence of the Secretary of State of the United States, the senior diplomatic representative in Washington, present, shall act as Chairman.
Art. 6. At the regular session to be held in November of this year, the Governing Board shall fix by lot the order of precedence among all the representatives of the American Republics forming the Union, in order to create a Supervisory Committee. The first four on this list and the Secretary of State of the United States, will constitute the first Supervisory Committee, and the four members of the Committee shall be replaced by turn, one every year, so that the Committee will be totally renewed after four years. The outgoing members shall always be replaced by those following on the list, the same method being observed in the event of resignation.
​The Secretary of State of the United States shall always be the Chairman of the Committee.
The Supervisory Committee shall hold a regular session the first Monday of every month, and three members shall be sufficient to constitute a quorum.
Art. 7. The direction and administration of the Bureau shall be entrusted to a Director appointed by the Governing Board.
Art. 8. The director shall have charge of the fulfillment of the purposes of the Bureau, in accordance with these fundamental rules, the regulations and the resolutions of the Governing Board.
He shall have charge of the correspondence with the Governments of the Union through their Diplomatic Representatives in Washington or directly, in the absence of such representatives. He must attend, in an advisory capacity, the meetings of the Governing Board, of the Committees and of the International Conferences of the countries of the Union, except in cases of resolution to the contrary.
Art. 9. The personnel of the Bureau, the number of employees, their appointment, duties, and everything pertaining thereto, shall be determined by the regulations.
Art. 10. The Governments of the Union shall have the right to send at their own cost to the Bureau a special agent to secure such data and information as may be requested, and at the same time such as his Government may require as to the commerce and industries of any of the countries of America.
Art. 11. The Director of the Bureau shall present at the regular session in the month of May, a detailed budget of the expenses for the following year. This budget, after approval by the Governing Board, shall be transmitted to the various Governments represented in the Union, with a statement of the quota due from each, which quota shall be fixed in proportion to the population of each country.
Art. 12. The Bureau shall issue such publications as the Governing Board may determine, and shall publish a Bulletin at least once a month.
All geographical maps published by the Bureau, shall bear a statement thereon that they do not constitute documents approved by the Government of the country to which they apply, nor by the Government of the countries whose boundaries appear thereon, unless the former and the latter Governments shall have expressly given their approval, which shall, in such case, also be stated on the maps.
All these publications, with the exception of those determined by the Governing Board, shall be distributed gratuitously.
Art. 13. In order to assure the greatest possible accuracy in the publications of the Bureau each country belonging to the Union shall transmit, directly to said Bureau, two copies of the official documents or publications relating to matters connected with the purposes of the Union.
​Art. 14. All the publications of the Bureau shall be carried free of charge by the mails of the American Republics.
Art. 15. The Bureau shall be governed by the Regulations adopted at this Conference, which Regulations, however, may be amended by the Governing Board, but shall in no way contravene these fundamental rules.
Art. 16. The American Republics bind themselves to continue to support this Bureau for a term of ten years from this date, and to pay their respective quotas. Any of them may cease to belong to the Union, upon giving notice to the Bureau two years in advance. The Bureau shall continue for a new term of ten years, and thus successively under the same conditions for consecutive terms of ten years, unless twelve months before the expiration of such term, a majority of the members of the Union shall express the wish, through the Secretary of State of the United States, to withdraw therefrom on the expiration of the term.
Art. 17. All of the fundamental rules and regulations by which the Bureau has been governed heretofore, are hereby repealed.
Regulations
Art. 1. Calls to meetings shall state the object thereof and shall be issued at least three days in advance, excepting in cases of great urgency.
When during the discussion of any matter, one of the members of the Board shall request a second discussion, such discussion shall be granted without further debate, at the close of the first discussion but such discussion shall not take place until the next meeting.
Before the approval of the minutes of a meeting, the resolutions adopted thereat may be reconsidered, upon the request of two members of the Board.
Art. 2. The Supervisory Committee shall examine the accounts of the Bureau at least once a month. It shall recommend to the Governing Board the improvements to be made regarding publications, the library and anything that it may deem advisable and beneficial to the Bureau, or to give greater efficiency to its work.
The Committee shall have, in addition, the powers determined by these Regulations.
Art. 3. The personnel of the Bureau shall consist of a Director and such other employees as the Governing Board may determine and appoint. In no case shall the same person receive a salary for more than one of the offices of the Bureau.
Art. 4. The Director, as the Chief of the Bureau, shall have charge of all the matters pertaining thereto, under the immediate direction of the Supervisory Committee.
He shall prepare, with the approval of said Committee, the internal regulations of the Bureau, which must be observed by the employees.
He shall appoint and remove the messengers and other subordinate employees.
​He shall supervise the proper collection and disbursement of the funds of the Bureau, for which he shall be personally responsible.
He shall also supervise the publication of the Bulletin and other publications of the Bureau.
He shall sign all vouchers, in accordance with the budget or resolutions approved by the Governing Board.
He shall not absent himself except with the permission of the Chairman of the Board.
At the meeting in November, he shall submit an annual report on the activities of the Bureau, its receipts and disbursements, its work and plans, proposing such changes as may, in his opinion, be desirable in order to improve the service and extend the sphere of action of the Bureau.
One week before the May meeting, he shall submit an estimate of expenses for the following year.
In the absence of the Director, his duties shall be discharged temporarily by such employee as the Supervisory Committee may designate.
Art. 5. The positions in the Bureau shall be filled upon examination held in the manner prescribed by the internal regulations.
Transitory Provision
All previous regulations are repealed, excepting those pertaining to the number and duties of the employees and other matters relating to the personnel of said Bureau, which shall be subject to the provisions in force.
Made and signed in the City of Rio de Janeiro, on the seventh day of the month of August nineteen hundred and six, in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and deposited in the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the United States of Brazil, in order that certified copies thereof be made, and forwarded through diplomatic channels to each one of the Signatory States.
* ↑ For an explanation of the various names of the Union, see footnote 1, ante, p. 129.
* ↑ Although dated Aug. 7, 1906, the resolution was not adopted by the Conference until Aug. 13.
* ↑ Post, p. 732.
* ↑ 2 UST 2394; TIAS 2361.
* ↑ Ante, p. 129.
* ↑ Ante, p. 344.
Footnotes
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).
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