Protocol of 2003 to the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992
Date: 2003-05-16
Institutions: European Union, United Nations Organisation
Subjects: Austria, Luxembourg, accession to an agreement, help for victims, indemnification, international convention, oil pollution, protocol

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ANNEX I

Protocol of 2003 to the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensa-
tion for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992

THE CONTRACTING STATES TO THE PRESENT PROTOCOL,

BEARING IN MIND the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992 (hereinafter the
1992 Liability Convention),

HAVING CONSIDERED the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation
for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992 (hereinafter the 1992 Fund Convention),

AFFIRMING the importance of maintaining the viability of the international oil pollution liability and compensation
system,

NOTING that the maximum compensation afforded by the 1992 Fund Convention might be insufficient to meet
compensation needs in certain circumstances in some Contracting States to that Convention,

RECOGNISING that a number of Contracting States to the 1992 Liability and 1992 Fund Conventions consider it neces-
sary as a matter of urgency to make available additional funds for compensation through the creation of a supplemen-
tary scheme to which States may accede if they so wish,

BELIEVING that the supplementary scheme should seek to ensure that victims of oil pollution damage are compensated
in full for their loss or damage and should also alleviate the difficulties faced by victims in cases where there is a risk
that the amount of compensation available under the 1992 Liability and 1992 Fund Conventions will be insufficient to
pay established claims in full and that as a consequence the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, 1992, has
decided provisionally that it will pay only a proportion of any established claim,

CONSIDERING that accession to the supplementary scheme will be open only to Contracting States to the 1992 Fund
Convention,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

GENERAL PROVISIONS

6.

‘Person’, ‘Owner’,

‘Ship’,
‘Preven-
tive Measures’ and ‘Incident’ have the same meaning as in
Article I of the 1992 Liability Convention;

‘Pollution Damage’,

‘Oil’,

Article 1

For the purposes of this Protocol:

7.

‘Contributing Oil’, ‘Unit of Account’, ‘Ton’, ‘Guarantor’ and
‘Terminal installation’ have the same meaning as in Article
1 of the 1992 Fund Convention, unless stated otherwise;

1.

2.

3.

‘1992 Liability Convention’ means
International
Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage,
1992;

the

‘1992 Fund Convention’ means the International Conven-
tion on the Establishment of an International Fund for
Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992;

8.

‘Established claim’ means a claim which has been recog-
nised by the 1992 Fund or been accepted as admissible by
decision of a competent court binding upon the 1992
Fund not subject to ordinary forms of review and which
would have been fully compensated if the limit set out in
Article 4(4), of the 1992 Fund Convention had not been
applied to that incident;

‘1992 Fund’ means
International Oil Pollution
Compensation Fund, 1992, established under the 1992
Fund Convention;

the

9.

‘Assembly’ means the Assembly of the International Oil
Fund, 2003,
Pollution Compensation Supplementary
unless otherwise indicated;

4.

‘Contracting State’ means a Contracting State to this
Protocol, unless stated otherwise;

5. When provisions of the 1992 Fund Convention are incor-
porated by reference into this Protocol,
in that
Convention means ‘Supplementary Fund’, unless stated
otherwise;

‘Fund’

10.

‘Organisation’ means the International Maritime Organisa-
tion;

11.

‘Secretary-General’ means the Secretary-General of
Organisation.

the

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Article 2

1.
An International Supplementary Fund for compensation
for pollution damage, to be named ‘The International Oil Pollu-
(hereinafter
tion Compensation Supplementary Fund, 2003’
‘the Supplementary Fund’), is hereby established.

2.
The Supplementary Fund shall in each Contracting State
be recognised as a legal person capable under the laws of that
State of assuming rights and obligations and of being a party in
legal proceedings before the courts of
that State. Each
Contracting State shall recognise the Director of the Supple-
mentary Fund as the legal representative of the Supplementary
Fund.

Article 3

This Protocol shall apply exclusively:

(a) to pollution damage caused:

(b) The amount of 750 million units of account mentioned
in paragraph 2(a) shall be converted into national
currency on the basis of the value of that currency by
reference to the Special Drawing Right on the date
determined by the Assembly of
the 1992 Fund for
conversion of the maximum amount payable under the
1992 Liability and 1992 Fund Conventions.

3. Where the amount of established claims against
the
Supplementary Fund exceeds the aggregate amount of compen-
sation payable under paragraph 2, the amount available shall
be distributed in such a manner that the proportion between
any established claim and the amount of compensation actually
recovered by the claimant under this Protocol shall be the same
for all claimants.

4.
The Supplementary Fund shall pay compensation in
respect of established claims as defined in Article 1(8), and only
in respect of such claims.

(i) in the territory,

including the territorial sea, of a

Article 5

Contracting State, and

(ii) in the exclusive economic zone of a Contracting State,
established in accordance with international law, or, if a
Contracting State has not established such a zone, in an
area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea of that
State determined by that State in accordance with inter-
national law and extending not more than 200 nautical
miles from the baselines from which the breadth of its
territorial sea is measured;

(b) to preventive measures, wherever taken, to prevent or mini-

mise such damage.

SUPPLEMENTARY COMPENSATION

Article 4

1.
The Supplementary Fund shall pay compensation to any
person suffering pollution damage if such person has been
unable to obtain full and adequate compensation for an estab-
lished claim for such damage under the terms of the 1992
Fund Convention, because the total damage exceeds, or there is
a risk that it will exceed, the applicable limit of compensation
laid down in Article 4(4) of the 1992 Fund Convention in
respect of any one incident.

2.

(a) The aggregate amount of compensation payable by the
Supplementary Fund under this Article shall in respect
of any one incident be limited, so that the total sum of
that amount together with the amount of compensation
actually paid under the 1992 Liability Convention and
the 1992 Fund Convention within the scope of applica-
tion of this Protocol shall not exceed 750 million units
of account.

the 1992 Fund has considered that

The Supplementary Fund shall pay compensation when the
Assembly of
the total
amount of the established claims exceeds, or there is a risk that
the total amount of established claims will exceed the aggregate
amount of compensation available under Article 4(4) of the
1992 Fund Convention and that as a consequence the
Assembly of the 1992 Fund has decided provisionally or finally
that payments will only be made for a proportion of any estab-
lished claim. The Assembly of the Supplementary Fund shall
then decide whether and to what extent the Supplementary
Fund shall pay the proportion of any established claim not paid
under the 1992 Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund
Convention.

Article 6

1.
Subject to Article 15(2) and (3), rights to compensation
against the Supplementary Fund shall be extinguished only if
they are extinguished against the 1992 Fund under Article 6 of
the 1992 Fund Convention.

2.
A claim made against the 1992 Fund shall be regarded as
a claim made by the same claimant against the Supplementary
Fund.

Article 7

1.
The provisions of Article 7(1), (2), (4), (5) and (6) of the
1992 Fund Convention shall apply to actions for compensation
brought against the Supplementary Fund in accordance with
Article 4(1) of this Protocol.

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2. Where an action for compensation for pollution damage
has been brought before a court competent under Article IX of
the 1992 Liability Convention against the owner of a ship or
his guarantor, such court shall have exclusive jurisdictional
competence over any action against the Supplementary Fund
for compensation under the provisions of Article 4 of this
Protocol in respect of the same damage. However, where an
action for compensation for pollution damage under the 1992
Liability Convention has been brought before a court in a
Contracting State to the 1992 Liability Convention but not to
this Protocol, any action against the Supplementary Fund under
Article 4 of this Protocol shall at the option of the claimant be
brought either before a court of the State where the Supple-
mentary Fund has its headquarters or before any court of a
Contracting State to this Protocol competent under Article IX
of the 1992 Liability Convention.

Nothing in this Protocol shall prejudice any right of
3.
recourse or subrogation of the Supplementary Fund against
persons other than those referred to in the preceding para-
graphs. In any event the right of the Supplementary Fund to
subrogation against such person shall not be less favourable
than that of an insurer of the person to whom compensation
has been paid.

4. Without prejudice to any other rights of subrogation or
recourse against the Supplementary Fund which may exist, a
Contracting State or agency thereof which has paid compensa-
tion for pollution damage in accordance with provisions of
national law shall acquire by subrogation the rights which the
person so compensated would have enjoyed under
this
Protocol.

3.
Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where an action for
compensation for pollution damage against the 1992 Fund has
been brought before a court in a Contracting State to the 1992
Fund Convention but not to this Protocol, any related action
against the Supplementary Fund shall, at the option of the clai-
mant, be brought either before a court of the State where the
Supplementary Fund has its headquarters or before any court
of a Contracting State competent under paragraph 1.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Article 10

Article 8

Subject

1.
to any decision concerning the distribution
referred to in Article 4(3) of this Protocol, any judgment given
against the Supplementary Fund by a court having jurisdiction
in accordance with Article 7 of this Protocol, shall, when it has
become enforceable in the State of origin and is in that State
no longer subject to ordinary forms of review, be recognised
and enforceable in each Contracting State on the same condi-
tions as are prescribed in Article X of
the 1992 Liability
Convention.

2.
A Contracting State may apply other rules for the recog-
nition and enforcement of judgments, provided that their effect
is to ensure that judgments are recognised and enforced at least
to the same extent as under paragraph 1.

Article 9

The Supplementary Fund shall, in respect of any amount
1.
of compensation for pollution damage paid by the Supplemen-
tary Fund in accordance with Article 4(1), of this Protocol,
acquire by subrogation the rights that the person so compen-
sated may enjoy under the 1992 Liability Convention against
the owner or his guarantor.

2.
The Supplementary Fund shall acquire by subrogation the
rights that the person compensated by it may enjoy under the
1992 Fund Convention against the 1992 Fund.

1.
Annual contributions to the Supplementary Fund shall be
made in respect of each Contracting State by any person who,
in the calendar year referred to in Article 11(2)(a) or (b), has
received in total quantities exceeding 150 000 tons:

(a) in the ports or terminal installations in the territory of that
State contributing oil carried by sea to such ports or term-
inal installations; and

(b) in any installations

situated in the territory of

that
Contracting State contributing oil which has been carried
by sea and discharged in a port or terminal installation of a
non-Contracting State, provided that contributing oil shall
only be taken into account by virtue of this subparagraph
on first receipt in a Contracting State after its discharge in
that non-Contracting State.

The provisions of Article 10(2) of

2.
the 1992 Fund
Convention shall apply in respect of the obligation to pay
contributions to the Supplementary Fund.

Article 11

1. With a view to assessing the amount of annual contribu-
tions due, if any, and taking account of the necessity to main-
tain sufficient liquid funds, the Assembly shall for each calendar
year make an estimate in the form of a budget of:

(i) expenditure

(a) costs and expenses of the administration of the Supple-
mentary Fund in the relevant year and any deficit from
operations in preceding years;

(b) payments to be made by the Supplementary Fund in
the relevant year for the satisfaction of claims against
the Supplementary Fund due under Article 4, including
repayments on loans previously taken by the Supple-
mentary Fund for the satisfaction of such claims;

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(ii) income

Article 13

(a) surplus

funds from operations

in preceding years,

including any interest;

(b) annual contributions, if required to balance the budget;

(c) any other income.

2.
The Assembly shall decide the total amount of contribu-
tions to be levied. On the basis of that decision, the Director of
the Supplementary Fund shall, in respect of each Contracting
State, calculate for each person referred to in Article 10, the
amount of that person's annual contribution:

(a) in so far as the contribution is for the satisfaction of
payments referred to in paragraph 1(i)(a) on the basis of a
fixed sum for each ton of contributing oil received in the
relevant State by such person during the preceding calendar
year; and

(b) in so far as the contribution is for the satisfaction of
payments referred to in paragraph 1(i)(b) on the basis of a
fixed sum for each ton of contributing oil received by such
person during the calendar year preceding that in which
the incident in question occurred, provided that State was a
Contracting State to this Protocol at the date of the inci-
dent.

The sums referred to in paragraph 2 shall be arrived at by
3.
dividing the relevant total amount of contributions required by
the total amount of contributing oil received in all Contracting
States in the relevant year.

4.
The annual contribution shall be due on the date to be
laid down in the Internal Regulations of the Supplementary
Fund. The Assembly may decide on a different date of
payment.

5.
The Assembly may decide, under conditions to be laid
down in the Financial Regulations of the Supplementary Fund,
to make transfers between funds received in accordance with
paragraph 2(a) and funds received in accordance with para-
graph 2(b).

Article 12

The provisions of Article 13 of the 1992 Fund Conven-

1.
tion shall apply to contributions to the Supplementary Fund.

2.
A Contracting State itself may assume the obligation to
pay contributions to the Supplementary Fund in accordance
with the procedure set out in Article 14 of the 1992 Fund
Convention.

1.
Contracting States shall communicate to the Director of
the Supplementary Fund information on oil receipts in accord-
ance with Article 15 of the 1992 Fund Convention provided,
however, that communications made to the Director of the
1992 Fund under Article 15(2), of the 1992 Fund Convention
shall be deemed to have been made also under this Protocol.

2. Where a Contracting State does not fulfil its obligations
to submit the communication referred to in paragraph 1 and
this results in a financial loss for the Supplementary Fund, that
Contracting State shall be liable to compensate the Supplemen-
tary Fund for such loss. The Assembly shall, on the recommen-
the Supplementary Fund, decide
dation of
whether
that
Contracting State.

the Director of
such compensation shall be payable by

Article 14

Notwithstanding Article 10,

this
1.
Protocol there shall be deemed to be a minimum receipt of
1 million tons of contributing oil in each Contracting State.

for the purposes of

2. When the aggregate quantity of contributing oil received
in a Contracting State is
the
less
Contracting State shall assume the obligations that would be
incumbent under this Protocol on any person who would be
liable to contribute to the Supplementary Fund in respect of oil
received within the territory of that State in so far as no liable
person exists for the aggregated quantity of oil received.

than 1 million tons,

Article 15

1.
If in a Contracting State there is no person meeting the
conditions of Article 10, that Contracting State shall for the
purposes of this Protocol inform the Director of the Supple-
mentary Fund thereof.

2.
No compensation shall be paid by the Supplementary
Fund for pollution damage in the territory, territorial sea or
exclusive economic zone or area determined in accordance
with Article 3(a)(ii), of this Protocol, of a Contracting State in
respect of a given incident or for preventive measures, wher-
ever taken, to prevent or minimize such damage, until the obli-
gations to communicate to the Director of the Supplementary
Fund according to Article 13(1) and paragraph 1 of this Article
have been complied with in respect of that Contracting State
for all years prior to the occurrence of that incident. The
Assembly shall determine in the Internal Regulations the
circumstances under which a Contracting State shall be consid-
ered as having failed to comply with its obligations.

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3. Where compensation has been denied temporarily in
accordance with paragraph 2, compensation shall be denied
permanently in respect of that incident if the obligations to
communicate to the Director of the Supplementary Fund under
Article 13(1) and paragraph 1 of this Article, have not been
complied with within one year after the Director of the Supple-
mentary Fund has notified the Contracting State of its failure to
report.

Any payments of contributions due to the Supplementary
4.
Fund shall be set off against compensation due to the debtor,
or the debtor's agents.

ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Article 16

The Supplementary Fund shall have an Assembly and a

1.
Secretariat headed by a Director.

Articles 17 to 20 and 28 to 33 of

2.
the 1992 Fund
Convention shall apply to the Assembly, Secretariat and
Director of the Supplementary Fund.

Article 34 of the 1992 Fund Convention shall apply to

3.
the Supplementary Fund.

Article 17

1.
The Secretariat of the 1992 Fund, headed by the Director
of the 1992 Fund, may also function as the Secretariat and the
Director of the Supplementary Fund.

2.
If, in accordance with paragraph 1, the Secretariat and
the Director of the 1992 Fund also perform the function of
the
Secretariat and Director of
Supplementary Fund shall be represented, in cases of conflict of
interests between the 1992 Fund and the Supplementary Fund,
by the Chairman of the Assembly.

the Supplementary Fund,

The Director of the Supplementary Fund, and the staff
3.
and experts appointed by the Director of the Supplementary
Fund, performing their duties under this Protocol and the 1992
Fund Convention, shall not be regarded as contravening the
provisions of Article 30 of the 1992 Fund Convention as
applied by Article 16(2) of
insofar as they
discharge their duties in accordance with this Article.

this Protocol

The Assembly shall endeavour not

to take decisions
4.
which are incompatible with decisions taken by the Assembly
of the 1992 Fund. If differences of opinion with respect to
common administrative issues arise, the Assembly shall try to
reach a consensus with the Assembly of the 1992 Fund, in a
spirit of mutual cooperation and with the common aims of
both organizations in mind.

The Supplementary Fund shall reimburse the 1992 Fund
5.
all costs and expenses arising from administrative services
performed by the 1992 Fund on behalf of the Supplementary
Fund.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Article 18

1.
Subject to paragraph 4, the aggregate amount of the
annual contributions payable in respect of contributing oil
received in a single Contracting State during a calendar year
shall not exceed 20 % of the total amount of annual contribu-
tions pursuant to this Protocol in respect of that calendar year.

2.
If the application of the provisions in Article 11(2) and
(3) would result in the aggregate amount of the contributions
payable by contributors in a single Contracting State in respect
of a given calendar year exceeding 20 % of the total annual
contributions, the contributions payable by all contributors in
that State shall be reduced pro rata so that their aggregate
contributions equal 20 % of the total annual contributions to
the Supplementary Fund in respect of that year.

If

3.
the contributions payable by persons in a given
Contracting State shall be reduced pursuant to paragraph 2, the
contributions payable by persons in all other Contracting States
shall be increased pro rata so as to ensure that
the total
amount of contributions payable by all persons liable to contri-
bute to the Supplementary Fund in respect of the calendar year
in question will
reach the total amount of contributions
decided by the Assembly.

4.
The provisions in paragraphs 1 to 3 shall operate until
the total quantity of contributing oil received in all Contracting
States in a calendar year, including the quantities referred to in
Article 14(1), has reached 1 000 million tons or until a period
of 10 years after the date of entry into force of this Protocol
has elapsed, whichever occurs earlier.

FINAL CLAUSES

Article 19

Signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and accession

This Protocol shall be open for signature at London from

1.
31 July 2003 to 30 July 2004.

States may express their consent to be bound by this

2.
Protocol by:

(a) signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance

or approval; or

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(b) signature subject

to ratification, acceptance or approval

followed by ratification, acceptance or approval; or

Article 22

(c) accession.

First session of the Assembly

Only Contracting States to the 1992 Fund Convention

3.
may become Contracting States to this Protocol.

Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be
4.
effected by the deposit of a formal instrument to that effect
with the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General shall convene the first session of the
Assembly. This session shall take place as soon as possible after
the entry into force of this Protocol and, in any case, not more
than 30 days after such entry into force.

Article 20

Article 23

Revision and amendment

Information on contributing oil

A conference for the purpose of revising or amending

1.
this Protocol may be convened by the Organisation.

Before this Protocol comes into force for a State, that State
shall, when signing this Protocol
in accordance with Article
19(2)(a), or when depositing an instrument referred to in
Article 19(4) of this Protocol, and annually thereafter at a date
to be determined by the Secretary-General, communicate to the
Secretary-General the name and address of any person who in
respect of
that State would be liable to contribute to the
Supplementary Fund pursuant to Article 10 as well as data on
the relevant quantities of contributing oil received by any such
person in the territory of
that State during the preceding
calendar year.

Article 21

Entry into force

This Protocol

1.
three months
following the date on which the following requirements are
fulfilled:

shall enter

into force

(a) at least eight States have signed the Protocol without reser-
vation as to ratification, acceptance or approval, or have
deposited instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval
or accession with the Secretary-General; and

(b) the Secretary-General has received information from the
Director of the 1992 Fund that those persons who would
be liable to contribute pursuant to Article 10 have received
during the preceding calendar year a total quantity of at
least 450 million tons of contributing oil,
including the
quantities referred to in Article 14(1).

2.
For each State which signs this Protocol without reserva-
tion as to ratification, acceptance or approval, or which ratifies,
accepts, approves or accedes to this Protocol, after the condi-
tions in paragraph 1 for entry into force have been met, the
Protocol shall enter into force three months following the date
of the deposit by such State of the appropriate instrument.

The Organisation shall

2.
a Conference of
Contracting States for the purpose of revising or amending this
less than one third of all
Protocol at
Contracting States.

the request of not

convene

Article 24

Amendment of compensation limit

Upon the request of at

1.
the
Contracting States, any proposal to amend the limit of the
amount of compensation laid down in Article 4(2)(a), shall be
circulated by the Secretary-General to all Members of the Orga-
nisation and to all Contracting States.

least one quarter of

2.
Any amendment proposed and circulated as above shall
be submitted to the Legal Committee of the Organisation for
consideration at a date at least six months after the date of its
circulation.

3.
All Contracting States to this Protocol, whether or not
Members of the Organisation, shall be entitled to participate in
the proceedings of the Legal Committee for the consideration
and adoption of amendments.

Amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of
4.
the Contracting States present and voting in the Legal
Committee, expanded as provided for in paragraph 3, on
condition that at least one half of the Contracting States shall
be present at the time of voting.

5. When acting on a proposal to amend the limit, the Legal
Committee shall take into account the experience of incidents
and in particular the amount of damage resulting therefrom
and changes in the monetary values.

3.
Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, this Protocol shall
not enter into force in respect of any State until the 1992 Fund
Convention enters into force for that State.

6.

(a) No amendments of the limit under this Article may be
considered before the date of entry into force of this
Protocol nor less than three years from the date of entry
into force of a previous amendment under this Article.

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(b) The limit may not be increased so as to exceed an
amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in
this Protocol increased by 6 % per year calculated on a
compound basis from the date when this Protocol
is
opened for signature to the date on which the Legal
Committee's decision comes into force.

If the procedure referred to in paragraph 1 has been
2.
applied, any subsequent amendment of the limit laid down in
Article 4(2), by application of the procedure in Article 24 shall,
for the purpose of Article 24(6)(b) and (c), be calculated on the
basis of the new limit as increased in accordance with para-
graph 1.

(c) The limit may not be increased so as to exceed an
amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in
this Protocol multiplied by three.

Any amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 4
7.
shall be notified by the Organisation to all Contracting States.
The amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted at the
end of a period of 12 months after the date of notification,
unless within that period not less than one quarter of the States
that were Contracting States at the time of the adoption of the
amendment by the Legal Committee have communicated to the
Organisation that they do not accept the amendment, in which
case the amendment is rejected and shall have no effect.

8.
An amendment deemed to have been accepted in accord-
ance with paragraph 7 shall enter into force 12 months after
its acceptance.

9.
All Contracting States shall be bound by the amendment,
unless they denounce this Protocol in accordance with Article
26(1) and (2), at least six months before the amendment enters
into force. Such denunciation shall take effect when the amend-
ment enters into force.

10. When an amendment has been adopted by the Legal
Committee but the 12-month period for its acceptance has not
yet expired, a State which becomes a Contracting State during
that period shall be bound by the amendment if it enters into
force. A State which becomes a Contracting State after that
period shall be bound by an amendment which has been
accepted in accordance with paragraph 7. In the cases referred
to in this paragraph, a State becomes bound by an amendment
when that amendment enters into force, or when this Protocol
enters into force for that State, if later.

Article 26

Denunciation

1.
This Protocol may be denounced by any Contracting
State at any time after the date on which it enters into force for
that Contracting State.

Denunciation shall be effected by the deposit of an instru-

2.
ment with the Secretary-General.

A denunciation shall

take effect 12 months, or such
3.
longer period as may be specified in the instrument of denun-
ciation, after its deposit with the Secretary-General.

Denunciation of

4.
the 1992 Fund Convention shall be
deemed to be a denunciation of this Protocol. Such denuncia-
tion shall take effect on the date on which denunciation of the
Protocol of 1992 to amend the 1971 Fund Convention takes
effect according to Article 34 of that Protocol.

5.
Notwithstanding a denunciation of the present Protocol
by a Contracting State pursuant to this Article, any provisions
of this Protocol relating to the obligations to make contribu-
tions to the Supplementary Fund with respect to an incident
referred to in Article 11(2)(b), and occurring before the denun-
ciation takes effect, shall continue to apply.

Article 25

Protocols to the 1992 Fund Convention

Article 27

Extraordinary sessions of the Assembly

1.
If the limits laid down in the 1992 Fund Convention have
been increased by a Protocol thereto, the limit laid down in
Article 4(2)(a), may be increased by the same amount by means
of the procedure set out in Article 24. The provisions of Article
24(6), shall not apply in such cases.

1.
Any Contracting State may, within 90 days after the
deposit of an instrument of denunciation the result of which it
considers will significantly increase the level of contributions
for the remaining Contracting States, request the Director of
the Supplementary Fund to convene an extraordinary session
of the Assembly. The Director of the Supplementary Fund shall
convene the Assembly to meet not later than 60 days after
receipt of the request.

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The Director of the Supplementary Fund may take the
2.
initiative to convene an extraordinary session of the Assembly
to meet within 60 days after the deposit of any instrument of
denunciation,
the Supplementary Fund
considers that such denunciation will result in a significant
the remaining
increase in the level of contributions of
Contracting States.

the Director of

if

3.
If the Assembly at an extraordinary session convened in
accordance with paragraph 1 or 2 decides that the denuncia-
tion will result in a significant increase in the level of contribu-
tions for the remaining Contracting States, any such State may,
not later than 120 days before the date on which the denuncia-
tion takes effect, denounce this Protocol with effect from the
same date.

Article 28

Termination

This Protocol shall cease to be in force on the date when
1.
the number of Contracting States falls below seven or the total
quantity of
remaining
received in the
Contracting States,
including the quantities referred to in
Article 14(1), falls below 350 000 000 tons, whichever occurs
earlier.

contributing oil

2.
States which are bound by this Protocol on the day
before the date it ceases to be in force shall enable the Supple-
mentary Fund to exercise its functions as described in Article
29 and shall, for that purpose only, remain bound by this
Protocol.

Article 29

Winding up of the Supplementary Fund

If this Protocol ceases to be in force, the Supplementary

1.
Fund shall nevertheless:

(a) meet its obligations in respect of any incident occurring

before the Protocol ceased to be in force;

(b) be entitled to exercise its rights to contributions to the
extent that these contributions are necessary to meet the
including expenses for
obligations under paragraph 1(a),
the administration of the Supplementary Fund necessary
for this purpose.

The Assembly shall

2.
take all appropriate measures to
complete the winding up of the Supplementary Fund, including
the distribution in an equitable manner of any remaining assets
among those persons who have contributed to the Supplemen-
tary Fund.

For the purposes of this Article the Supplementary Fund

3.
shall remain a legal person.

Article 30

Depositary

This Protocol and any amendments accepted under

1.
Article 24 shall be deposited with the Secretary-General.

2.

The Secretary-General shall:

(a) inform all States which have signed or acceded to this

Protocol of:

(i) each new signature or deposit of an instrument

together with the date thereof;

(ii) the date of entry into force of this Protocol;
(iii) any proposal to amend the limit of the amount of
compensation which has been made in accordance
with Article 24(1);

(iv) any amendment which has been adopted in accord-

ance with Article 24(4);

(v) any amendment deemed to have been accepted under
Article 24(7), together with the date on which that
amendment shall enter into force in accordance with
paragraphs 8 and 9 of that Article;

(vi) the deposit of an instrument of denunciation of this
Protocol together with the date of the deposit and the
date on which it takes effect;

(vii) any communication called for by any Article in this

Protocol;

(b) transmit certified true copies of this Protocol to all Signa-
tory States and to all States which accede to the Protocol.

3.
As soon as this Protocol enters into force, the text shall
be transmitted by the Secretary-General to the Secretariat of
the United Nations for registration and publication in accord-
ance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article 31

Languages

This Protocol is established in a single original in the Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, each
text being equally authentic.

DONE AT LONDON this sixteenth day of May, two thousand
and three.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised
by their respective Governments for that purpose, have signed
this Protocol.