Vol. 151, No. 23 — November 15, 2017

Registration

SOR/2017-232 November 2, 2017

FOREIGN MISSIONS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ACT

29th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and Associated Meetings Privileges and Immunities Order

P.C. 2017-1347 November 2, 2017

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to paragraphs 5(1)(c) (see footnote a) and (f) to (h) (see footnote b) of the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act (see footnote c), makes the annexed 29th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and Associated Meetings Privileges and Immunities Order.

29th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and Associated Meetings Privileges and Immunities Order

Interpretation

Definitions

1 The following definitions apply in this Order.

• Act means the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act. (Loi)
• Convention means the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations set out in Schedule III to the Act. (Convention)
• meetings means
  • (a) the 29th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer to be held in Montreal, Quebec, from November 20 to 24, 2017;
  • (b) the 59th meeting of the Implementation Committee under the Non-compliance Procedure for the Montreal Protocol to be held in Montreal, Quebec on November 18, 2017; and
  • (c) the joint meeting of the Bureaux of the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 28th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol to be held in Montreal, Quebec on November 19, 2017. (réunions)
• Montreal Protocol means The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer done at Montreal, Quebec on September 16, 1987, as amended from time to time. (Protocole de Montréal)
• relevant period means the period beginning on November 16, 2017 and ending on November 26, 2017. (période visée)
• Vienna Convention means the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations set out in Schedule I to the Act. (Convention de Vienne )
• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer means the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer adopted at Vienna on March 22, 1985. (Convention de Vienne pour la protection de la couche d’ozone)

Privileges and Immunities

Representatives of foreign state

2 (1) During the relevant period, representatives of a foreign state that participate in the meetings shall have, to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in relation to the meetings, the privileges and immunities set out in sections 11, 12, 14 and 15 of Article IV of the Convention.

Heads and senior officials of international organizations

(2) During the relevant period, heads of an international organization, as well as their alternates and other senior officials of an international organization shall have, to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in relation to the meetings, the privileges and immunities comparable to the privileges and immunities accorded to diplomatic agents under the Vienna Convention.

Other officials

(3) During the relevant period, other officials of an international organization shall have, to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in relation to the meetings, the privileges and immunities set out in Section 18 of Article V of the Convention.

Experts

(4) During the relevant period, experts who perform missions for an international organization shall have, to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in relation to the meetings, the privileges and immunities set out in Article VI of the Convention.

Coming into Force

Registration

3 This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Issues

The 29th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and Associated Meetings Privileges and Immunities Order, 2017 (the Order), made pursuant to paragraphs 5(1)(c), (f), (g) and (h) of the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act (FMIOA), grants privileges and immunities to certain individuals to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in relation to

• the 29th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Montreal Protocol), to be held jointly with the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer from November 20 to 24, 2017, in Montréal;
• the 59th meeting of the Implementation Committee Under the Non-Compliance Procedure of the Montreal Protocol on November 18, 2017; and
• the joint meeting of the Bureaux of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 28th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on November 19, 2017.

The above-noted meetings will hereafter be referred to collectively as “the Meetings.” The Order will apply to representatives of a foreign state; heads of international organizations, as defined in paragraph 2(1) of the FMIOA, and their alternates and other senior officials; other officials of international organizations; and experts performing missions for international organizations.

Background

Parties to the Montreal Protocol agreed by consensus to hold the 29th meeting of the Parties in Montréal, Canada. This meeting marks the 30th anniversary of perhaps the most successful multilateral environmental agreement. The 29th meeting of the Parties will be held jointly with the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and will be preceded by associated technical and organizational meetings.

The Meetings will bring together 600 to 750 delegates from all 197 parties to the Montreal Protocol, including representatives of various international organizations, and will be held at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization, in Montréal.

The Montreal Protocol was designed to reduce the production and consumption of substances that deplete the Earth’s ozone layer. As a result of over 25 years of concerted efforts, the Parties to the Protocol had phased out the consumption of 98% of all of the chemicals controlled by the Protocol.

Building on the successes of the Montreal Protocol, in October 2016, Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted the Kigali Amendment to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, which are potent greenhouse gases, under the Protocol. The Meetings in Montréal will be the first where the implementation of the Kigali Amendment will be discussed.

Objectives

The Order grants privileges and immunities to certain individuals who will be attending the Meetings to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in relation to the Meetings.

Description

The Order grants the following privileges and immunities to the following individuals:

• Representatives of a foreign state to the Meetings will have the privileges and immunities set out in sections 11, 12, 14 and 15 of article IV of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (the UN Convention). These include: immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of their baggage; immunity from legal process for words spoken or written and all acts done by them in their capacity as representative; an exemption from immigration restrictions; inviolability for all papers and documents; and the same immunities and facilities in respect of their personal baggage as are accorded to diplomatic envoys.
• Heads of international organizations, as well as their alternates and other senior officials will have privileges and immunities comparable to the privileges and immunities accorded to diplomatic agents under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. These include an exemption from immigration restrictions. The privileges and immunities accorded to diplomatic envoys in international law include immunity from arrest and legal process in respect of all their acts, not just those performed in their official capacity; however, these privileges and immunities will only apply to the extent they are required for the exercise of these individuals’ functions in relation to the Meetings.
• Other officials of international organizations will have the privileges and immunities set out in section 18 of article V of the UN Convention. These include: immunity from legal process for words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in their official capacity; and an exemption from immigration restrictions.
• Experts performing missions for international organizations will have the privileges and immunities set out in article VI of the UN Convention. These include: immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of personal baggage; immunity from legal process for words spoken or written and all acts done by them in the performance of their mission; and inviolability for all papers and documents.

The effect of the exemption from immigration restrictions is addressed in section 5(4) of the FMIOA, which states that: “In the event of an inconsistency or conflict between an order made under subsection (1) and any of sections 33 to 43 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the order prevails to the extent of the inconsistency or conflict.”

In each case, the privileges and immunities are granted only for the period beginning on November 16, and ending on November 26, 2017, and only to the extent required for the exercise of these individuals’ functions in relation to the Meetings.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this Order, as there is no change in administrative costs to business

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this Order, as there are no costs on small business and small businesses would not be disproportionately affected.

Consultation

Public consultations were not conducted. In light of the fact that the privileges and immunities that are granted are limited in time and are granted only to the extent required for the exercise of the individuals’ functions in relation to the Meetings, the effect on the public is expected to be low.

Rationale

The Order grants privileges and immunities to participants to facilitate their travel to Canada and their participation in the Meetings.

The privileges and immunities granted pursuant to this Order contain no exemptions from Canadian taxation requirements, but they do contain exemptions from Canadian immigration requirements and immunity from legal process.

In 2007, when Canada hosted the 19th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, there was also a privileges and immunities order in place (i.e. the 19th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol Privileges and Immunities Order, also was made pursuant to section 5 of the FMIOA).

Contact

Beatrice Maille
Director
Criminal, Security and Diplomatic Law Division
Global Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2
Telephone: 343-203-2534
Email: beatrice.maille@international.gc.ca

• Footnote a
  S.C. 2002, c. 12, s. 3(2)
• Footnote b
  S.C. 2002, c. 12, s. 3(3)
• Footnote c
  S.C. 1991, c. 41