The Antarctic Treaty, with only 14 articles and 54 signatories, is the shortest legal Treaty that has stood test of the time (since 23rd June 1961). The Treaty which is registered pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations has made a provision under Article 9 envisaging that “representatives of the Contracting Parties meet at suitable intervals and places, for the purpose of exchanging information, consulting together on matters of common interest pertaining to Antarctica.” Hence the ATCM is organised each year at different venues of the Consultative Parties, generally, in alphabetic order. The ATCM and the meetings of the CEP are held together with active support of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. The latter is mandated to take care of the operational part of the Treaty and coordination among the Treaty nations. The work of the ATS is funded by the Consultative Parties who approve its budget each year at the ATCM. The First Meeting of the Contracting Parties was held in Canberra and subsequently 45 such meetings have been held since then. India had the privilege of holding 30th ATCM at New Delhi in 2007 when among other important decisions taken, a proposal on responsible tourism and the proposal for construction of India’s third permanent Station in Antarctica were approved. The 44th ATCM held in Berlin in 2022 approved holding of its 46th meeting in 2024 in India. While the detailed Agenda for the 46 ATCM will be finalised under relevant Agenda Item at Helsinki, Finland, during the 45th ATCM, some of the general issues of continued interest are expected to be discussed under three Heads i.e. CEP, Working Group 1 (on policy, legal and institutional issues), and Working Group 2 (on operations, science and tourism). The usual issues that will come up for discussions are: tourism and its impact on the Antarctic environment, management plans for ASPA and ASMA, any new proposal for ASPA/ASMA, Scientific issues pertaining to climate change response, biological prospecting, impact and consequences of global climate change on Antarctic environment, environmental management, and environmental remediation, implementation of Annex 6, liability issues, and safety of Operation, etc. The ATCM is attended not only by the Contracting Parties, but also by observers and invited experts.
These include all the Consultative Parties; the non-Consultative Parties; Observers such as the SCAR, the CCAMLR and COMNAP; and Invited Experts, such as the ASOC and the IAATO are likely to participate in the 46th ATCM. The MoES/NCPOR has initiated preparations for holding the ATCM by putting in place a National Committee and a Local Organising Committee and work for identification of a suitable venue for the Meeting has already commenced.
