[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 11, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 18311]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6866]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 5752]


Deadline for Initial Accreditation or Approval for Agencies and 
Persons in Order To Be Accredited/Approved When the Hague Adoption 
Convention Enters Into Force for the United States

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (the IAA), 
the Department of State (the Department) is the Central Authority for 
the United States for implementation of the 1993 Hague Convention on 
Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry 
Adoption (the Convention). Once the Convention enters into force for 
the United States, agencies and persons that provide adoption services 
in cases covered by the Convention must be accredited, temporarily 
accredited, approved, or otherwise exempt. The Department previously 
announced in the Federal Register the establishment of the transitional 
application deadline (TAD) for accreditation and approval as November 
17, 2006. The Department is now setting the deadline for initial 
accreditation or approval (DIAA) for February 15, 2008. All agencies 
and persons that applied by the TAD must complete the accreditation/
approval process by February 15, 2008, to be eligible for 
accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval at the time the 
Convention enters into force for the United States.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Mary Coburn at 202-736-9081. 
Hearing or speech-impaired persons may use the Telecommunications 
Devices for the Deaf (TDD) by contacting the Federal Information Relay 
Service at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Convention is a multilateral treaty that 
provides a framework for the adoption of children habitually resident 
in one country that is a party to the Convention by persons habitually 
resident in another country that is also a party to the Convention. The 
Convention establishes procedures to be followed in these intercountry 
adoption cases and imposes safeguards to protect the best interests of 
children. When the Convention enters into force for the United States, 
it will apply to the United States as both a country of origin 
(outgoing cases, i.e., where children are emigrating from the United 
States to a foreign country) and a receiving country (incoming cases, 
i.e., where children are immigrating to the United States from a 
foreign country). The implementing legislation for the Convention is 
the IAA. Under the Convention, the IAA, and the final rule on 
accreditation, 22 CFR part 96, all agencies and persons providing 
adoption services must be accredited, temporarily accredited, approved, 
or exempt in order to provide adoption services in Convention cases.
    The DIAA is February 15, 2008. The DIAA means that any agency or 
person that applied by the TAD must complete the accreditation/approval 
process by February 15, 2008, in order to be eligible for 
accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval at the time the 
Convention enters into force for the United States. All agencies and 
persons must complete the accreditation or approval process, including 
the correction of any identified deficiencies, by February 15, 2008, if 
they are seeking accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval by 
the time the Convention enters into force for the United States. 
Agencies and persons can seek accreditation after the DIAA and will be 
added to the list of approved persons and accredited agencies when 
approval or accreditation is granted.
    The DIAA date is not the date that the Convention will enter into 
force for the United States. Before the Convention enters into force 
for the United States, the United States must deposit its instrument of 
ratification with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the 
Netherlands, in accordance with Article 43 of the Convention. The 
United States intends to deposit its instrument of ratification in late 
2007. The Convention will enter force for the United States on the 
first day of the month following the expiration of three months after 
the date of deposit. In accordance with 22 CFR 96.17, the Department 
will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing the date on 
which the Convention will enter into force for the United States.

    Dated: April 5, 2007.
Maura Harty,
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State.
[FR Doc. E7-6866 Filed 4-10-07; 8:45 am]
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