AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPANAND THE WORLD ORGANISATION FOR ANIMAL HEALTHREGARDING PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIESOF THE REGIONAL REPRESENTATION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFICOF THE WORLD ORGANISATION FOR ANIMAL HEALTH

AGREEMENTBETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPANAND THE WORLD ORGANISATION FOR ANIMAL HEALTHREGARDING PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIESOF THE REGIONAL REPRESENTATION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
OF THE WORLD ORGANISATION FOR ANIMAL HEALTHThe Government of Japan and the World Organisation forAnimal Health,
Recalling the International Agreement for the Creationof an Office International des Epizooties in Paris, done on25 January 1924,
Considering that the Regional Representation for Asiaand the Pacific of the World Organisation for Animal Healthis located in the territory of Japan, andDesiring to regulate the affairs relating to theprivileges and immunities of the Regional Representation
for Asia and the Pacific of the World Organisation for
Animal Health in the territory of Japan,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
For the purpose of this Agreement:(a)the term “International Agreement” means theInternational Agreement for the Creation of an
Office International des Epizooties in Paris,
done on 25 January 1924;(b)

the term “OIE” means the World Organisation forAnimal Health;(c)the term “Government” means the Government ofJapan;(d)the term “Office” means the Regional
Representation for Asia and the Pacific of theWorld Organisation for Animal Health;(e)the term “premises” means any building or part ofa building occupied by the Office for theofficial activities of the Office;

－1－

(f)

the term “official activities of the Office”
includes its administrative activities and thoseundertaken pursuant to the International
Agreement;(g)the term “officials of the Office” means theRepresentative of the Office and other officialsof the Office, appointed by the Director General
under Article 8 of the Appendix to theInternational Agreement;(h)the term “Representative of the Office” means theRegional Representative for Asia and the Pacificof the World Organisation for Animal Health andincludes officials of the Office other than theRepresentative of the Office when acting in placeof the Representative of the Office in his/herabsence;(i)the term “Director General” means the Director
General of the OIE and includes officials of theOIE other than the Director General when actingin place of the Director General in his/herabsence;(j)the term “dependants” means the spouse of theofficials of the Office and his/her children
below the age of 20 and includes children aged 20
and above if they are mentally or physicallyincapacitated and thus incapable of self-support.
Article 2

The Office shall have legal personality. It shallhave the capacity:(a)to contract;(b)

to acquire and dispose of immovable and movable
property; and(c)to institute legal proceedings.
Article 3

The archives of the Office shall be inviolable. They
include all records, correspondence, documents,
manuscripts, photographs, films and recordings belonging toor held by the Office.

－2－Article 41.
The premises shall be inviolable. The Government
shall use its best efforts within the laws and regulationsof Japan to protect the premises against any person orgroup of persons attempting unauthorized entry into thepremises or purposely disturbing the tranquility of thepremises in their immediate vicinity. No official of theGovernment or persons exercising any public authority
within Japan shall enter the premises to perform any
official duties therein except with the consent of, andunder the conditions agreed to by, the Representative of
the Office or at his/her request. Such consent shall beassumed in case of fire or other emergencies requiring
prompt protective action.
2.
The Office shall not permit the premises to be used asa refuge by persons who are avoiding arrest under any lawof Japan, who are required by the Government for
extradition to another country, or who are endeavoring to
avoid service of legal process.
Article 5
1.
The Government shall use its best efforts, inconsultation with the Office, to ensure that the premises
shall be supplied with the necessary public utilities andservices, including electricity, water, sewerage, gas,post, telephone, public transportation, drainage,
collection of refuse and fire protection, and that such
public utilities and services shall be supplied onequitable terms.
2.
The Office shall, upon request, make suitablearrangements to enable the appropriate public utility andservice bodies to inspect, repair, maintain, reconstruct
and relocate utilities, conduits, mains and sewers within
the premises.
Article 61.
The Office shall enjoy immunity from every form oflegal process except in any particular case in which the
Director General has expressly waived the immunity of theOffice. It is, however, understood that no such waiver ofimmunity shall imply waiver of immunity in respect of theexecution of judgment, for which a separate waiver by the
Director General shall be necessary.

－3－

2.
The property and assets of the Office, within thescope of the official activities of the Office, shall be
immune from search, seizure, confiscation, sequestration,expropriation and any other form of interference, whether
administrative, judicial or legislative, except with theconsent of, and under the conditions agreed to by, theDirector General.
3.
The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 above shall not
apply:(a)in the case of an enforcement of an arbitration
award made under the private arbitration referred
to in paragraph 1 of Article 14;(b)

in the case of civil proceedings brought by athird party in respect of damage caused by a
motor vehicle belonging to or operated on behalfof the Office, or in the case of a motor traffic
offence involving such a vehicle.
Article 71.
Within the scope of the official activities of theOffice, the Office and its property, assets and income
shall be:(a)

exempt from all direct taxes except those whichare, in fact, no more than charges for publicservices;(b)

exempt from customs duties and prohibitions andrestrictions on imports and exports in respect ofarticles imported or exported by the Office. It
is understood, however, that articles imported
under such exemption will not be sold in Japan
except under conditions agreed with theGovernment;(c)exempt from customs duties and prohibitions andrestrictions on imports and exports in respect ofits publications.

2.
The Office will not claim exemption from excise duties
and from taxes on the sale of movable and immovable
property which form part of the price to be paid. However,when the Office is making important purchases of property
for the official activities of the Office on which suchduties and taxes have been charged or are chargeable, theGovernment will, whenever possible, make appropriate
administrative arrangements for the remission or return of
the amount of duty or tax.

－4－

Article 8
The Office may receive, acquire, hold and dispose of
freely any kind of funds, gold, currencies or securities.
Article 91.
All official communications directed to the Office, orto any of the officials of the Office, and all official
outward communications of the Office, by whatever means orin whatever form transmitted, shall be immune from
censorship and from any other form of interception orinterference with their confidentiality. Should there be
reasonable cause to believe that apparently official
communications contain unlawful or dangerous materials,
they may be opened by the Japanese authorities in thepresence of any of the officials of the Office, provided,
however, that no such officials need be present if thosematerials appear to present an immediate physical danger.
2.
In respect of its official communications, the Officeshall, in the territory of Japan, enjoy treatment not lessfavorable than that accorded by the Government to any otherinternational organization in the matter of priorities,
rates and taxes for post and telecommunications, in so far
as may be compatible with any international conventions,
regulations and arrangements to which Japan is a party.
Article 10
1.

The officials of the Office shall enjoy the following:(a)immunity from every form of legal process inrespect of words spoken or written and all acts
done by them in their official capacity except in
the case of a motor traffic offence committed byany of the officials of the Office or in the caseof damage caused by a motor vehicle belonging to,driven by or operated on behalf of any of theofficials of the Office, such immunity tocontinue notwithstanding that the persons
concerned may have ceased to be officials of theOffice;(b)

exemption from taxation on the salaries andemoluments paid to them by the OIE;

(c)

exemption with respect to themselves and theirdependants from immigration restrictions andcharges for visas;－5－(d)the same repatriation facilities in time ofinternational crises as a diplomatic agent, forthemselves and their dependants;(e)the right to import free of customs duties their
furniture and personal effects at the time offirst taking up their post in Japan;(f)exemption with respect to themselves and theirdependants from national service obligations.

2.
The subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) ofparagraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to officials of
the Office who are nationals of, or permanently resident
in, Japan.
Article 11
1.
When a person has been appointed as one of theofficials of the Office, the Office shall in each case andwithout delay notify the Government of the name of theperson, and his/her level and post in the Office and thenames of his/her dependants, together with other relevant
information. The Office shall likewise notify theGovernment, when a person so appointed ceases to be one ofthe officials of the Office, of the date of the cessation.
2.
The Government shall not be obliged to extend to any
person the privileges and immunities provided by thisAgreement until the Government has received thenotification under paragraph 1 of this Article with regard
to the person concerned.
3.
The Government shall, on receipt of such notification,
furnish the person concerned with an identification cardbearing his/her photograph. This card shall serve toidentify the holder in relation to all Japanese
authorities.
Article 121.
The privileges and immunities accorded under thisAgreement are provided solely to ensure in all
circumstances the unimpeded functioning of the Office andthe complete independence of the persons to whom they areaccorded.

－6－2.
The Director General shall take every precaution toprevent any abuse of these privileges and immunities, inaccordance with the rules of the OIE.
3.
Should the Government consider that an abuse of any ofthese privileges or immunities has occurred, the Director
General shall, upon request, consult with the Government todetermine whether any such abuse has occurred. If suchconsultation fails to achieve a result satisfactory to theDirector General and to the Government, the matter shall be
determined in accordance with the procedure set out inArticle 14.
Article 13
The Director General has the right and the duty towaive any immunity accorded under this Agreement when
he/she considers that such immunity is impeding the courseof justice and when it is possible to dispense with it
without prejudice to the interests of the Office.
Article 14
1.
Where the Office enters into contracts in Japan withnatural or juridical persons, these contracts shall, at therequest of other party or parties thereto, include anarbitration clause whereby any disputes arising out of theinterpretation or execution of the contracts may at therequest of either party be submitted to private
arbitration.
2.
The Office shall make provision for appropriate modesof settlement of disputes of a private law character otherthan those arising from contracts specified in paragraph 1of this Article.
3.
The OIE shall make provision for appropriate modes ofsettlement of:(a)disputes concerning employment contracts of theofficials of the Office concluded by the Director
General;(b)disputes involving officials of the Office who
enjoy immunity under this Agreement, if such
immunity has not been waived in accordance withArticle 13.

－7－4.
Concerning the interpretation or application of thisAgreement, any dispute between the Government and the OIE
or any question affecting the relationship between theGovernment and the OIE which is not settled by negotiationor other agreed modes of settlement shall be referred to atribunal of three arbitrators: one to be appointed by theMinister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, one to be appointed
by the Director General, and the third, who shall be thechairman of the tribunal, to be appointed by the first twoarbitrators. Should the first two arbitrators fail toagree upon the third within six months following theirappointment, the third arbitrator shall be appointed by thePresident of the International Court of Justice at therequest of the Government or the OIE. The decisions of thetribunal shall be final and binding upon the Government andthe OIE.
Article 15
1.
The Director General shall cooperate at all times withthe appropriate authorities of Japan in order to facilitate
the proper administration of justice at all times, toensure the observance of laws and regulations concerning
police, fire prevention, public health and labor inspection
and other similar legislation, and to prevent any abuse of
the privileges and immunities provided for in thisAgreement.
2.
Without prejudice to the privileges and immunities
accorded by this Agreement, it is the duty of all persons
enjoying such privileges and immunities to observe the laws
and regulations of Japan.
3.
No provision in this Agreement shall affect the rightof the Government to take all precautionary measures in theinterests of its security.
Article 16
At the request either of the Government or of the OIE,
consultations shall take place with respect to amendment of
this Agreement. Any amendment shall be made by mutualagreement.
Article 171.
This Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth
day after the date on which the Government and the OIE
exchange notes indicating their acceptance of thisAgreement.

－8－2.
This Agreement may be terminated at any time by either
the Government or the OIE upon written notice to the otherand shall terminate one year after receipt of such notice.
In the event of the Office being moved from the territoryof Japan, or the dissolution of the Office, this Agreement
shall, after the period reasonably required for suchtransfer or dissolution and the disposal of the property ofthe Office in Japan, cease to be in force.
In witness whereof, the undersigned, duly authorized
thereto, have signed this Agreement.
Done at Paris, in duplicate, in the English language,
on this twentieth day of December, 2019.

For the Governmentof Japan:

For the World Organisation
for Animal Health:
M. Eloit

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